Forever
by Atepogs
Summary: Pre-Ootp. Darien and Gwenivere were two lovers from centuries ago, separated by jealousy and betrayal. Draco and Ginny two people from rival families. When he changes she falls for him. This is their story.
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: All the characters and any magical lingo in this story belong to JK Rowlings, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. 

A/N: This story is loosely based on the Filipino Television Series Sa Dulo Nang Walang Hanggang (After Eternity or something like that). This is my first fanfic so please go easy on me.

Summary: Darien and Gwenivere were two lovers from different backgrounds. One was from a prominent wizarding family and the other from a muggle family. Despite those differences, they fall in love. When jealousy and betrayal come into play, they were separated. Centuries later, will Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley accomplish what their predecessors could not do? To be together forever.

Introduction

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It was dark and a lean man with silvery blond hair was running quickly towards shelter. It was raining hard and he was soaked thoroughly. His clothes were beginning to stick to him like a second skin. When he finally reached his destination, he knocked on the door hoping that **she** would open it. After a few minutes, a red-haired man opened the door. When the man finally realized who was at the door his faced showed fear, but he let him inside the house after bowing. He quickly surveyed the house and noted the man's many sons sitting in front of the fire. Then he saw her. She was sitting in front of the fire with her brothers doing her needlework. He watched her work quietly. Her auburn hair glistening in the light. He took in her face that showed deep concentration in her work. How he wished that he could be there to hold her. The man with red hair watched his employer with hatred. How he hated this man's family with all his heart, yet he could not deny that this person is different from the rest of them. Then he followed the man's gaze and saw it directed towards his daughter. 

He coughed aloud to get his attention, "My lord. Please do come in. Gwenivere please get a towel for our lord to dry himself," the man said to his only daughter.

At the mention of her name she stopped her work and got up.

The man with blond hair finally got back to his senses and said, "There is no need for a towel. I will be leaving shortly. I have a letter with the utmost importance. I need it delivered."

"How may I be of help my lord?" The red haired man asked.

"I would like your daughter to deliver it for me."

"My daughter?" the man questioned.

"She will know who to give this to," he said showing him the sealed letter.

Gwenivere walked up to him to receive the letter.

"Give this to Hermia," he simply told her.

She looked at him questionably. She wondered why he would not deliver it himself. She knew that Hermia and he were cousins and lived near each other, but she did not question him any further. She and him were not in the same status. She was a simple peasant girl while he came from one of the most powerful and well-connected families in Europe. To question his authority would be frowned upon. She told him she would deliver it as soon as possible. At that, he thanked them, nodded at her, and then he left.

She pocketed the letter and turned to her father.

"Father I would like to see if Lord Darien returns to the manor safely," Gwenivere told him.

"In this weather?" he asked, looking out the window, "You cannot see a bloody thing."

"I will stay near the house. You could see the manor up the hill father," she told him.

"Do you want me to go with you?" asked one of her brothers.

"I wouldn't want to trouble you Reynold. I will be fine by myself. I will return shortly father," she told them.

Her father nodded and returned to the table. She took her cloak, went out the door, and closed it quietly. When she turned around a corner, someone pulled her. She felt a pair of warm lips touch hers gently. As quick as she received the kiss, it was gone as fast. A pair of arms encircled around her and held her close against him. She did not resist, but instead leaned on him.

"Darien," she murmured against his chest, "Why did you come?"

He stroked her hair gently and asked her if she was not happy to see him.

"Of course I am happy to see you."

"You did not look happy, you ignored me until your father addressed you," he told her.

She moved back a little to look up at his face.

"My brothers were there. What did you want me to do? They still do not know about us, why did you come today? It is raining you could catch a cold," she told him.

"I leaving as soon as the sun comes up."

"Leaving? You will come back won't you?"

He chuckled.

"Of course I will come back. I will be back in a week's time. My uncle has opened a school with three of his colleagues. He asked for my assistance. I could not deny him that small favor," he explained to her.

"Your uncle? Lord Salazar?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Will you be safe? I do not trust that man. There is something about him that screams murder."

"Of course I will be safe. I can look after myself. Besides, my uncle and I are close. He raised me since I was a baby. He is like a father to me and I, a son to him. He would not dare harm his only heir," he assured her.

"How do you know that? I am worried. Something tells me that something is going to happen to you. I can feel it."

"You worry too much about me. When I return, we will continue with our plan. I will marry you and we can live together. Is that what you want?"

"Yes."

"Go to the church a week from today before mass. I will be there, I promise."

She nodded. With one last kiss, they broke apart and he left. She watched him until he disappeared in the darkness.

A/N: So what do you think? This was a dream sequence. The main characters in this story are Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley. Please review, if you say that you did not like it, then say what part you did not like.


	2. Chapter 1: The Initiation

Disclaimer: All the characters and any magical lingo in this story belong to JK Rowlings, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc.

A/N: I would like to thank the people that reviewed the previous chapter: Angel-Hiragizawa32, Beccs, brown-sugar, jujubee you guys should know that I appreciate your comments.

Chapter 1: The Initiation

Draco Malfoy woke up with a start. It is the summer after his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was tangled in his bed sheet and his clothes stuck to him because of his sweat. He had the same dream again, the dream about Darien and Gwenivere. He got up then noticed the clothes at the foot of his bed. Black robes folded neatly and a mask resting on top of it. Then he remembered today was the day of his initiation. His father has prepared him for this day ever since he was born, a day when he will join his father in his ranks within the inner circle of the Death Eaters. Although his is only fifteen, he has tremendous power that the Dark Lord admired. He took a shower and dressed into the Death Eater uniformed his father told him to wear. He looked at himself in the mirror and scowled. He looked so much like his father. I will never be like him the told himself. He hated his father so much, but also loved him at the same time. He heard a knock and turned around. He saw his mother come.

"Draco," She said and then she saw him dressed like the people that have made their lives miserable. 

She was shocked at the resemblance of him and his father. Then she quickly went across the room and hugged him. He returned the hug, he could sense that his mother was troubled.

"Draco, don't do this, you can leave this place. My parents will help you and Dumbledore. I cannot lose you to them," She told him

"Mother it is all right. We cannot leave anymore. They are already here, I can feel them near," He told her.

When they heard a knock they separated and composed themselves to be presentable. When Draco said enter, Lucius Malfoy came inside the room. When he saw Draco, he smirked, but when he saw Narcissa, he frowned.

"Draco. It is time. Follow me. Narcissa you are coming with us," Lucius ordered her.

Draco nodded and followed him to the room the initiation will take place. After walking a few minutes, they stopped. They waited outside the door. When he heard enter he lifted his hood and walked inside. It was a dark room. He recognized it as the fencing room. There were swords on hanging on the walls and there were no windows, the only exit was the door they just came through. In the middle of the room was a circle of people dressed in the same attire; black robes with the hoods pulled over their head and a mask. In the middle of the circle was a man with red robes, Draco immediately recognized him as Voldemort. Lucius led him to the middle of the circle. When they got there Lucius got down to his knees and kissed the hems of Voldemort's robes. Draco followed his father's actions. They stayed on their knees until Voldemort said rise.

"Are you ready young Malfoy?" Voldemort asked Draco.

Draco nodded.

Then the Death Eaters started to chant in a foreign language.

Estuans interius

ira vehementi

Estuans interius

ira vehementi

Sors immanis

Et inanis

Sors immanis

Et inanis

They repeated the chant over and over again. Then Voldemort took out his wand and motioned Draco to lift up his sleeve. Draco complied. Voldemort gripped Draco's arm and started to draw the Dark Mark with his wand saying a different chant. Draco felt pain coming from his arm and saw the Dark Mark darkening. Then Draco remembered his promise to a friend long ago and his promise to himself. Then he looked up and recognized one of the Death Eaters in the circle, Professor Snape. Suddenly he pulled his arm out of Voldemort's grip. He stepped back and clutched his arm. Then he felt something oozing out, when he looked he saw blood. The Death Eaters looked furious and drew out their wands, and pointed it at him. 

"What is going on here, you said your son was ready Lucius!" Voldemort exclaimed, he was furious. His eyes were burning bright red.

"He is ready my Lord. He knows the procedures; I talked to him yesterday. I made sure he was ready," Lucius explained nervously.

"You did not force him did you," Voldemort paused, "Kill the mother."

"NO!" Draco yelled.

Draco then ran and pushed his way to his mother, but was blocked. He could not get there in time.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!"

Draco watched helplessly as his mother slumped to the ground, lifeless.

He struggled to get to her. He concentrated hard; the Death Eaters in his path flew to the wall and fell. He ran to his mother's body, the remaining Death Eaters were about to curse him, but the Dark Lord stopped them. Voldemort locked the only exit of the room. When Draco got to his mother, he held her body close. He tried to cry but no tears came out. He brought his hand to her eyes and closed them.

"Your son is weak Lucius. I am disappointed."

"I am sorry master. I will punish him."

"Kill him. He will be no use to us. He will rebel."

"Yes master."

Lucius raised his wand towards his son. Then suddenly he was thrown back to the wall and knocked the swords off its hangings. Draco was furious. He sent things flying around the room. Wands were being thrown across the room. Everything was chaotic. The Death Eaters did not know what to do. When Lucius saw his son running towards him, he grabbed the nearest thing, a sword. Then Lucius struck Draco on the face. Luckily for Draco, his eyes were not hit. When Lucius was about to strike him again Draco grabbed the sword; he didn't feel the pain of the sword cutting his hands. He was already feeling the pain of losing a love one. A pain he didn't want to remember. Draco pulled the sword from Lucius' grip. He then turn it around, he gripped the handle and impaled him in the stomach.

"You deserve to die after all the people you killed. If you think that I am going to mourn for you, you are seriously mistaken," Draco told him.

Then he pushed the sword and Lucius fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry," Draco told him.

"Well, you finally killed him," Voldemort told Draco, "There is no way out Draco, I will give you another chance. Join me. You can take your father's place."

"I will never call you master!" Draco told Voldemort.

"Very well."

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" Voldemort yelled. At the same time Draco raised his right hand and yelled Riflettere Maledire.

A green light filled the room, when it disappeared, Draco Malfoy fell to the ground and Voldemort was still standing.

A/N: So, what do you guys think so far? I kind of think that this chapter sucked, don't you think? This is not the end of Draco. He is one of the main characters; I can't get rid of him yet. Ginny should make an appearance in the next chapter. Until then, please review.


	3. Chapter 2: Another Death

Disclaimer: All the characters in this story belong to JK Rowlings, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. 

A/N: Thank you to the people that reviewed the previous chapter, escape, Slytherin Child, Elenya, xodevonnyxo

Chapter 2: Another Death

"Checkmate," Ginny Weasley told her brother, with a smile on her face.

"Huh? How did you do that? You cheated," Ron told his sister.

"I did not. I even warned you during my last move."

"I thought you were bluffing."

Today was a happy evening in the Weasley household. Ron and Ginny Weasley sat in the living room in front of the fire, playing chess. Fred and George Weasley were watching the game Ron and Ginny were playing.

"Ha. Fred I told you she was going to beat him. Way to go Gin. At this rate I'll be just as rich as Malfoy."

"How many games has this been Gin? Was it five?" George asked his sister.

"Yes. Ron, what's wrong with you today?"

"Nothing," Ron mumbled.

"Aww. Ickle Ronnekins is sad. His Hermione won't come visit this summer," the twins teased him.

"I am not. Like I would care if she came," Ron said defensively. His ears turned red at the mention of Hermione's name.

"Ron. You know that she would love to come, but her aunt is visiting her this year and she can't leave," Ginny told her brother, while she put the chess piece in their place for another game.

"How did you know her aunt was coming. Did you read my letter?" Ron asked getting angry.

"I did not. Hermione also wrote me you know."

"Kids try to quiet down. I'm trying to study this new muggle telephone."

"You got something new dad?" Ginny asked. She went to the table where her father was engrossed with the small device in front of him.

"Yes. Ginny. It is a miniature version of the telephone. I think muggles call it a Cell You Are phone. Look at this. Everything is so small. Its amazing how the muggles did this."

Suddenly they heard a pounding on the door.

"Arthur open up! It is me Amos."

When Arthur Weasley opened the door, he was surprised to see the flushed face of Amos Diggory.

"Arthur you have to come with me. There has been an attack. They're calling everyone. An entire family was killed."

"What! Okay, I'll come with you. I'll get my cloak," Arthur told him, then he turned to his wife, "Molly, I have to go."

"Okay Arthur, please be careful," she told him.

"I will." 

At that Arthur Weasley hugged his family and followed Amos Diggory outside. 

"Come, Arthur. Follow me."

Arthur Weasley followed him until they have gone a few feet away from the house.

"Where are we going Amos?"

"We have to go to Malfoy Manor," Amos saw that he was about the question him so he added, "Don't ask questions now. They need all the help they can get. I will explain later. Apparate to the Manor, the wards should be down."

Arthur nodded. With a POP they were both gone.

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Arthur Weasley was shocked at the sight before him. Floating in the sky was the Dark Mark, as hideous as ever. The Manor was up in flames; aurors and many other wizards working in the ministry were trying to put out the fire. 

"Arthur!"

Arthur Weasley turned around and saw Albus Dumbledore running towards him.

"Albus. Death Eaters?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore answered.

"Where are the Malfoys?"

"They are inside somewhere trapped, the aurors are trying to get into the room they are in. We need help," Dumbledore told him.

Arthur nodded and followed Dumbledore inside the manor. They were nearly running inside. Arthur noticed many aurors searching each room. Suddenly they came to a stop, in front of a door. Five aurors were saying various spells trying to open it. He immediately started helping them by saying all the unlocking spells he knew. Dumbledore also started saying spells. After a few minutes, the door suddenly burst open. When they got inside the room, Arthur suddenly wanted to vomit. The room was a mess. Swords were thrown in different places, some even had blood on it. It looked like a tornado was in the room. There was blood dripping on the walls. Near the middle of the room was Narcissa Malfoy. One of the Aurors immediately rushed to her side. After she checked her, she pronounces that Narcissa Malfoy was dead. Then he saw Lucius Malfoy near the wall. He was also on the floor. He had a sword impaled in his stomach. His body was in a puddle that appeared to be blood. He was obviously dead. Then he saw movement. He ran to the body near Lucius Malfoy, and bent down to look at him closely. He recognized him as Lucius' son, Draco, by some traces of his silvery blond hair. The boy's face was covered in blood. He noticed a cut on his face starting from his right eyebrow going diagonally across his nose. What shocked Arthur the most was the incomplete Dark Mark on the boy's arm. It was faded and only contained the skull, the snake was missing. His arm was also slashed. Arthur could distinctively see an "X" cut over the mark. Then he saw his chest rise slowly, and then Arthur muttered a spell.

"Albus! Come quickly! He's alive but barely," he told him.

Albus Dumbledore came quickly along with the Aurors. He saw a gray haze over Draco's body. The haze meant that he was near death.

"We have to get him to St. Mungo's. He needs treatment," one of the Aurors said.

"No," Dumbledore told him, "It is not safe to bring him there. I know of a place to bring him where he can recover. Trust me."

Then everybody in the group nodded. They were all people who used to be Dumbledore's students. They would trust him with their lives.

"Arabella, go outside and tell Poppy to apparate to Raven Creek. Tell her that I will wait for her there." 

Then he faced everybody, "Do not tell anyone where I will take young Draco. It is crucial that nobody can find him, especially reporters and such."

At that Dumbledore gently picked up Draco's body and apparated. Arabella left to inform Poppy Pomprey about what Dumbledore told her.

"What are we going to do now?" Arthur asked the group.

"We can handle everything Mr. Weasley. You can go home, I'm sure that your family is worried about you," One of the Aurors answered.

"Are you sure?" He asked him.

"Yes, you should get some sleep sir. Everybody is still expected to report to work tomorrow."

"Okay. If you need me again just call me."

"Yes, sir."

At that they heard a POP and Arthur Weasley was gone.

Ginny Weasley was sitting in front of the fire reading the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. She was in the part where Pip sees Estella again after many years in London. Hermione recommended the book and Ginny was just hooked to it. Ron was next to her discussing Quidditch with Fred and George. Then she heard the door open. When she turned around, she dropped her book. Her father was standing in front of the door. He looked like he came from Azkaban. His face was stricken with fear. His robes had blood on it. Suddenly her mom came in the room.

"Ginny will you go... ARTHUR, what happened to you?" she quickly rushed to him.

"Arthur are you okay? Is that blood on your robes? What happened to you?"

Arthur Weasley was overwhelmed with all the questions he quickly said that he was all right no harm was done to him.

"Dad is that your blood," Fred asked worried about his father.

"No it isn't. I can't tell you where I went. You'll probably read about it in the Prophet tomorrow, until then please refrain from asking questions. They still expect me to go to work tomorrow. I probably can't even answer your questions anyway, Dumbledore ask me to keep some things to my self," he explained to them.

"Dumbledore was there? This must be serious then," Ron commented.

Arthur simply nodded, "Ron almost an entire Wizarding family was killed. One of your classmates was orphaned today. I can't tell you who."

"Kids stop asking your father questions. He needs his rest," Molly Weasley told her children.

Then she helped Arthur up the stairs.

After they heard the door close in their parent's bedroom, Ginny got up.

"Guys, I'm tired I'm going to bed now," She told her brothers.

"Okay Ginny goodnight," They told her. Then they kissed her on the forehead. 

When Ginny got in her room she changed into her pajamas and climbed under the covers. When she closed her eyes, she fell quickly asleep.

__

Gwenivere was in the church waiting for her lover Darien to arrive. She has been there for three hours. She was starting to get worried. Darien was never late, usually when they would agree to meet each other he would be early. She hasn't heard from him ever since he told her that he would help his uncle with the school.

"My child, are you sure that he will come," asked the priest that was supposed to perform the ceremony.

"Yes, father. He said he will come."

"Are you sure that he was serious. He was not leading you on?"

"He would never do that. He told me he loved me. I know he meant it. He is coming I know he is."

Suddenly the door opened. Gwenivere smiled, she knew that he would never break his promise. But when she saw who entered the door, her smile disappeared. Darien's best friend Henry walked in. Henry had the same built as Darien. Henry was handsome and had hair as black as the night. He looked distressed.

"Gwenivere, have you been here since noon?"

"Yes Henry. Where is Darien? Did something happen to him? Is he all right?"

"Gwenivere, Darien is fine, but he would not be coming today. He backed out."

"What? I.. I don't understand. You are lying. You're lying!"

"I'm sorry Gwenivere."

Tears were starting to come out of her eyes. 

"Gwenivere?" Henry stepped towards her, "I'm sorry. Darien said he could not do it."

"Why didn't he come his self?"

"I do not know. He asked me to come here, and I am here."

"I don't believe you!"

Gwenivere pushed him out of her way and ran out the church. Henry watched her, and did not intend to follow her, but something inside of him was telling him to comfort her. 

'If I cannot have you. I will make sure Darien won't, even if I have to kill him."

It has been two days since Darien did not come to the church as planned. Gwenivere tried not to show that inside she was hurting. She did all her work and even joked with her brothers, but even then, they could notice that something is wrong with her. When she thought that they were sleeping, they could hear her crying. When they would ask her if something was wrong she would tell them that she is fine.

It seemed like a normal evening. Her brothers were sitting in front of the fire talking and she was doing her knitting. Suddenly the heard a loud knocking on their door. Her brother Reynold got up to open it. They saw one of the people they work with, and he looked like he ran to the house. He was trying to catch his breath.

"Reynold. You have to help us," he said.

"Wait a minute. Try to calm down first. Help you with what?" Reynold asked him.

"Lord Darien."

At this, Gwenivere looked up. 

"What happened to Darien?" She asked.

Everybody looked at her questionably. Why wasn't she addressing Darien properly?

"Did you hear me? I said what happened to Darien," she asked him again.

"He … oh… its terrible, we can't get him down. You have to help us. Bring your knives," the man told them.

Reynold asked him what was going on. What happened to Lord Darien?

"He's been lynched!"

"What!" Gwenivere asked loudly.

"You have to come."

After that, he ran, and the rest of the family followed him after they got a knife. They ran quickly toward a tree. As they were getting closer, they were beginning to see a figure hanging and did not seem to be moving. When Gwenivere was able to see the face of the man, she fell to her knees.

"Darien! No!"

"Gwenivere," Her brother Reynold was next to her.

"Get him down. Please Reynold. Get him down."

Reynold and her brothers climbed the tree. One of them cut the rope and lowered the body slowly to the ground. When Darien's body was on the ground Gwenivere quickly rushed to him. When she got near him, she gasped. Darien's body was covered with bruises. She cradled his body against her, and she wept.

"Darien, please wake up. I need you. Do Not leave me, please, do not leave me."

Her brothers were shocked. They did not know that Gwenivere and Darien had a relationship. They noticed that he would spend time around their sister, but they always thought that it was about the business at the hacienda. They never thought that Gwenivere and Lord Darien were more than just friends were.

"You said you loved me! You said that we would be together! You said that you would never leave me!" Her voice broke down after she said her last sentence.

"Gwenivere," her brother Reynold put a hand on her shoulder. Gwenivere just whimpered. She held Darien closer to her. She looked like she didn't want to let go.

Then they heard a voice near the tree. One of Gwenivere's brothers was walking near a figure that was curled up. When the figure looked up, he tried to get away from Gwenivere's brother.

"Lord Henry it is okay. It is safe."

"Stay back. Stay back I tell you." 

He got down to the ground and was looking around for something. When he got a stick, he quickly pointed it towards Gwenivere's brother.

"Stay back or I will hurt you. Where is Darien? What have you done to him? If you hurt him I will kill you."

Gwenivere's brother looked shocked at Henry's outburst. He was wondering why Henry was pointing a stick at him. Couldn't Henry see that Darien was dead in front of him?

"Henry. Put the stick down." 

The man who said this was Henry's uncle, Lord Godric Gryffindor. Along with him was Salazar Slytherin and Hermia Ravenclaw, Darien's cousin.

Godric went to his nephew.

"Henry. Put the stick down," Godric told him

"Stay back. What did you do to Darien?" Henry asked.

"Henry. What is happening to you?" Godric asked shocked at his behavior.

"Where is Darien?" Henry asked.

"He's lost his min," Reynold commented.

Hermia came forward and tried to reach Henry's hand, but he moved back.

"Henry. What is wrong?" She asked him.

"Get away from me!" He yelled at her.

"Don't you recognize me?" she was wondering what happened to Henry to make him act this way.

"No! I do not know any of you. You are helping him aren't you? You are all helping him get to Darien!"

Just after Henry said that, Salazar walked to Godric and started whispering to him. Then Godric nodded.

Salazar went to Henry and quickly said stupefy, and Henry fell to the ground unconscious. Godric picked Henry up and after talking briefly to Salazar, he walked toward the manor. Then Salazar turned around and saw Gwenivere still holding Darien and then he scowled. Then he saw Hermia walk to Gwenivere.

"Gwenivere. I am sorry. We have to bring the body to the manor. You have to let go."

Gwenivere shook her head. She did not want to let go of Darien yet.

"Please, Gwenivere."

"I didn't even get a chance to tell him that I loved him one last time."

"Let me say good bye to him," Gwenivere told Hermia.

Gwenivere gently touched his face. When she did this Salazar looked disgusted, but nobody noticed him. She ran her fingers over his cheek, then his closed eyes, and then over the lips that she has kissed so many times. When she remembered the kisses they shared, she began to cry again. Gwenivere leaned down and gently brushed her lips against his, after she pulled back she ran to Reynold. He hugged her for comfort. Then Salazar picked up Darien's body and started walking away. 

"Gwenivere?"

"I want to go home."

Reynold nodded and their family started walking back to their house. Hermia watched them walk away. When she can no longer see them, she started walking towards the manor. She stopped when she saw something shining in the moonlight. When she got closer to it, she saw a locket. She remembered Darien showing her this locket. She picked it up and held it close to her heart. Then she looked up at the tree and then she walked away.

When Ginny woke up after her dream she found out that she was crying. She figured that she was crying because of Darien's death. She has had dreams of Darien and Gwenivere ever since the summer started. This was the first dream that disturbed her. Usually her dreams of Darien and Gwenivere were happy; today's dream was different. When Ginny looked at the clock next to her bed, she saw that it was three o'clock. She groaned, then went under her blanket again and closed her eyes. She didn't have another dream that night.

A/N: So, what do you guys think? Was it good? Please review. 

Next Chapter: We go to Raven's Creek and find out why Dumbledore brings Draco there. Hermione's aunt is introduced in the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 3: Hermia's Heir

Disclaimer: All the characters except Hermione's aunt, Landon Dupre and Sophia Dupre belong to JK Rowlings.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I had an exam for almost every class I had, and I had to put the fic aside for awhile. I hope I make it by writing a long chapter (its long in my standards.) Thank you Elenya and SnapeJuice for reviewing the previous chapter. I'm glad that you guys liked my story.

Chapter 3: Hermia's Heir

Albus Dumbledore arrived at the quiet town of Raven's Creek. It was an ordinary muggle town. Population of wizards and witches almost zero, with the exception of a few people. Dumbledore ran to a two-story yellow house. The lights on the doorsteps were tuned off, but he still rang the doorbell and knocked the door a couple of times. He was silently hoping that the people in the house would open the door. Draco was slowly dying and needed shelter and help as soon as possible. He rang the doorbell again. Then he saw the lights turn on inside. When the door opened a man with graying black hair in his fifties looked surprised to see him.

"Albus?" then he saw the body in Dumbledore's arms and ushered him to come in. Then he looked out the door to check if there were any people following, and then he closed the door.

"Where can I put him?" Dumbledore asked the man.

When the man saw the bleeding body of a teenager, he was surprised. He was again shocked to see blood coming from a wound in his face. He couldn't recognize the boy.

"Put him on the couch over there."

When Dumbledore put the boy on the couch, they heard a knocking on the door. The man looked questionably at Dumbledore.

"That must be Poppy. We can trust her Landon," Dumbledore told the man.

Landon nodded and opened the door and greeted the old woman. She walked in and immediately asked Dumbledore where the boy was. When she saw him she quickly rushed over to him and started checking him. She asked the two men to leave her for a while, and then Landon showed Dumbledore the kitchen. Landon went to the cupboards and started preparing tea.

"Would you like some tea Albus?"

"Yes, please."

"Who is that boy Albus? Why did you bring him here?"

"You could not recognize him Landon?"

Landon shook his head.

"Why, he is your grandson."

Landon almost dropped what he was holding. He was surprised at Dumbledore's revelation. Then he turned to face Dumbledore.

"Draco? Narcissa's son?"

"Yes."

"Wha… What happened? Why was he in _that_ condition? Who did that to him?"

"I will explain later. Is Sophia here?"

"Yes, yes she is. She is sleeping… I… I need to get her." 

At that Landon, left and Dumbledore could hear footsteps walking up the stairs. After about five minutes, Dumbledore could hear voices coming near.

"Landon what is happening? Do you know what time it is?" 

Then she saw Dumbledore and looked surprised.

"Albus, what are you doing here?"

"She's here. Explain now," Landon told Dumbledore pointedly. 

"Landon what is going on?" Sophia asked her husband, but he simply montioned for her to be quiet.

"Landon, Malfoy Manor held an initiation ceremony for Draco. From what my sources tell me, Draco refused to he part of the Death Eater and Voldemort retaliated. Narcissa and Lucius died during the struggle. Landon, you were an Auror at one time, you researched Death Eaters and you know what they do to those who refused to serve Voldemort."

"Yes, I know Albus. If you try to walk away from the Dark Lord, they will kill you. Is that what happened to Draco?"

"Yes."

"Draco?" Sophia looked confused and shocked at the same time. She just found out that her only daughter Narcissa has died.

"Sophia. Draco is here. He is in the living room right now. Poppy is taking care of him," Landon informed her. Then as if on cue Madame Pomprey entered the room.

"Albus, the boy is fine, but he lost a lot of blood. Thankfully, Severus gave me a potion to help compensate for the blood lost. He has a scar on his forehead, and…"

"Go on Poppy say what else happened," Albus told her.

"Follow me." She said, and walked to the living room. The rest of the adults followed her.

When they walked in the living room, they noticed that Madame Pomphrey cleaned up the blood in the room, and Draco was cleaned of the blood that was on him an hour ago. He was covered in a white blanket and didn't have any clothes on. Sophia quickly rushed to his side.

"I did not bring any spare clothes with me, so I covered him with the blanket I brought," Poppy told them.

"It is okay, I could give him some of my clothes," Landon replied.

"What was it that you wanted to show us Poppy?" Dumbledore asked.

Madame Pomprey went over to Draco and pulled the blanket a little to reveal the faded Dark Mark. Sophia gasped when she saw the mark. Landon went over to Draco and traced the X shaped scar over the Dark mark with his finger. Then he turned to Dumbledore.

"Is it permanent? We can't get rid of it?" Landon asked him.

"I'm afraid not," Dumbledore answered solemnly.

"Will he feel it if he is being summoned by _him_?"

"I am not sure. There has not been a case like him. As you said before, people are usually killed when they refused to serve. Nobody has lived to tell the tale. Even I don't know how he survived. From what my spy told me, Draco was hit by the killing curse."

All eyes turned to Dumbledore at this revelation, and all the eyes showed surprise and shock. Seeing this Dumbledore told them that they will have to wait until Draco wakes up to find out what really happened.

"I'll bring Draco to the guest room and get some clothes for him," Landon told them. 

When Madame Pomprey nodded Landon picked him up effortlessly despite his old age.

After about ten minutes, Landon came back down. Then Madame Pomprey said that it was getting late, and she had to go back to Hogwarts to get more supplies. She told Landon and Sophia that when Draco wakes, they should call her via floo network. When they asked her when Draco will wake up, she told her that she does not know. The earliest could be tomorrow, but that would be very unlikely. After they exchanged their good-byes, they heard a POP and Poppy Pomprey left the room.

"So is this it Albus?" Landon asked him.

"Will you take care of Draco for the rest of the summer?" Dumbledore asked him.

"Of course, we'll take care of him. What kind of question is that Albus? We'll take care of him even after this summer and the next. He is our grandson. We just lost our daughter, we will not lose him too." 

"I understand. I am sorry for asking the questions. I need to be sure of the well being of my students. I hope you understand," Dumbledore told him.

Landon nodded.

Then Dumbledore said, "I must be off. Good-bye" 

Then with a POP Albus Dumbledore was gone. That night Landon and Sophia Dupre could not sleep.

-*-*-*-*-*-*

Hermione Granger woke up and smiled. Today was the day her aunt was going to come and visit them. She was excited, ever since she was little she always enjoyed her aunt's visits. Her aunt traveled around the world for her "job". When her mother received the letter saying that her aunt was coming, she was surprised. She has not heard from her ever since she started Hogwarts four years ago. She picked out her clothes and put them on her bed. Then she took a shower, after the shower she changed into her clothes. As she was nearing the kitchen, she could smell the breakfast, bacon, eggs, toast, and coffee. The usual breakfast in the Granger household.

"Good morning Mum, Dad," Hermione said to her parents when she entered the kitchen. Then she walked over to them and kissed them on the cheek.

"Good morning dear," Her mom answered behind her newspaper.

Her dad was packing his suitcase.

"Well, I have to go now," he said. Then he kissed his wife on the cheek and waved good bye to his daughter.

When they heard him open the door. They heard him talking to someone.

"Linda? How are you doing? Where you standing there all this time? Come in," He said.

"Oh John, Thank you!" Linda said when he helped her with her luggage. When Hermione heard her Aunt's name she left her breakfast and ran to the door.

"Aunt Linda!" Hermione said and then she gave her aunt a big hug.

"Hermione?" Linda moved back a little to look at her niece, "Is that you, my have you grown!"

Hermione laughed a little. Then she heard her mom leave the kitchen.

"Linda!" Her mom said.

Hermione helped her dad with her aunt's luggage. Then she saw her mom hug her aunt.

"Hello, Melanie. How are you?" Linda asked her older sister.

"How am I?" Melanie ushered Linda to a chair in the living room. "I'm fine, I should be the one asking you that question."

"I'm okay big sis. It is so good to see you guys again. Especially Hermione, my favorite niece."

"Aunt Linda I'm your only niece," Hermione said as she sat down next to her.

"Well, even though, you're still my favorite."

Hermione studied her aunt, she hasn't changed since the last she saw her. Her aunt still had straight sleek brown hair, a great contrast to her sister, whom Hermione inherited her bushy brown hair. Her aunt was outgoing and looked young, she was still in her thirties and seemed single.

"So Linda, when are you going to get married?" Melanie asked.

Linda made a choking noise and then laughed, "Me? Why would I want to get married? I mean, I'm still kind of young I want to enjoy my freedom."

"Well I guess you're right."

Suddenly they heard a tapping on the window. When Hermione looked at the window, she saw an owl, probably the owl from the Daily Prophet. Her eyes widened, she didn't tell her aunt that she was a witch. Hermione quickly ran to the window, silently hoping that her aunt does not notice, but she knew that it was unlikely.

"Hermione, what's the rush, I'm sure that the owl could wait a little while. You don't want to trip over the furniture do you?" Her aunt told her.

Hermione looked at her aunt surprised.

"I know what you are Hermione, did you think that you could hide something big like this from me?" 

Hermione answered no.

When Hermione untied the newspaper from the owl she expected it to fly off, but it didn't. Then she remembered that it was waiting for payment. Then her aunt walked over to the owl and put some sickles in the pouch attached to its leg. When her aunt walked back to her seat acting like nothing happened Hermione followed, looking confused.

"Hermione, I've known about you since you were born. Did you think that you were 100 percent muggle born?"

Hermione nodded, "Do you mean that I have wizarding blood?"

"Yes Hermione you do, didn't your mom tell you yet?"

Hermione looked at her mom questionably Linda noticed this.

"I take it she didn't. We have a lot to tell you. Do you agree that it is time to tell her Melanie? I was her age when Mom told me."

"Yes, we should tell her everything. Isn't this why you visited us? You've found him?"  


Hermione was getting more confused. What were they talking about?

"Hermione, I'm a witch like you. I also went to Hogwarts."

"You're like me. Why didn't you tell me before? What house were you in, in Hogwarts? Is mom also a witch?"

"I couldn't tell you before, I will explain more later. When I was in Hogwarts, I was sorted in Ravenclaw. Your mother is a squib, quite common in our family; it also has to do with the reason why I did not tell you before. Hermione, you come from one of the purest blood in the wizarding world. Your father is fully muggle, while your mom and I were purebloods. Hermione, we are direct descendants of Rowena Ravenclaw through her niece, Hermia."

"Rowena Ravenclaw never had a niece. I've read Hogwarts a History many times and many other books about her, but they never mentioned a niece," Hermione said.

"Even though she was never mentioned in books she did indeed exist. I have proof of her existence; in fact, I have the very diary that she kept. It has been passed down from generation to generation in our family. It was given to me when I was fifteen."

"Wait a minute, I'm a bit confused. So mum is a pureblooded squib and you said squibs are common in our family. Why is that?"

"I'm not sure, but it has to do with what happened when Rowena's niece was alive. It probably involves Hermia's cousin Darien and his lover Gwenivere. It was an effect of Hermia's work."

"Who are Darien and Gwenivere and what do they have to do with me?" Hermione asked.

"Darien was very close to Hermia, they acted like they were siblings. Unfortunately, Darien died at a young age. I believe he was in his early twenties. Hermia was a witness of Darien and Gwenivere's relationship. She even helped them a couple of times. Before Hermia died, she performed a spell. Old magic is strong and most of it is lost today, the spell she performed was a spell similar to reincarnation. She made sure that Darien and Gwenivere would have another chance to try to be together, to be in love all over again. Our family Hermione has a role in trying to help Darien and Gwenivere. It is all written in prophecies. Each generation one girl born in our family possesses magical power, only one girl. No matter how pure their blood, the rest of the children born in the family come out as squibs. The girl with the magic capabilities is then told the story of Darien and Gwenivere, we swore that we would then try to find Darien and help him with Gwenivere."

"So am I the next in line to help with the find Darien?"

"Yes, Hermione. Your job is easy though. You don't have to look for Darien. I know where he is. All you need to do now is befriend him, and help him with Gwenivere. As for Gwenivere, I don't know where she is or who she is."

"You know where he is. Who is he?"

"Hermione, read the headline of the Daily Prophet."

Then Hermione looked at the paper. The headline shocked her; it read _Malfoy Manor Attacked by Death Eater, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy dead._ There was a picture on the front page showing the manor in flames, the Dark Mark visible in the sky, and Aurors running around trying to put out the fire. Then it hit her; she had to befriend Draco Malfoy, the boy that tormented her during her years in Hogwarts. She would have to help him fall for a girl she didn't know. She sat back in her chair and thought that she was going to have to do many things this year and it was not going to be easy.

A/N: So, what do you guys think? I hope that it wasn't to boring. For those of you that are waiting for some Draco/Ginny action, I'm sorry to tell you that they won't meet until the beginning of the school year, and it is the middle of the summer holidays. Please tell me what you guys think so far; in other words please review.

Next Chapter: Draco wakes up and Hermione meets him. They have a talk about what they are going to do. Draco also meets Linda.


	5. Chapter 4: New Friends

Disclaimer: All the characters except Linda, Landon Dupre and Sophia Dupre belong to JK Rowlings.

A/N: Thank you Elenya and cosmoz for reviewing chapter 3 I really appreciate your feedback. Thank you Elenya for putting my story in your favorite story section, I glad you like my story.

Chapter 4: New Friends

__

"I WILL NEVER CALL YOU MASTER!"

"Very well."

"AVADA KEDAVRA" Voldemort yelled.

Draco suddenly woke up from his dream. He hoped that everything that has happened was a dream. When he opened his eyes, everything was blurry, after awhile everything was beginning to focus. He couldn't recognize his surroundings. He was on a twin-size bed, in blue sheets. He was wearing green sweat pants and a white shirt. The wall in the room was white and there was a painting of a field with a house on the background on the wall. When he got out of the bed and tried to walk to the window, he nearly collapsed. He held onto the bed so that he wouldn't fall. After he got his balance, he walked to the window. He was expecting to see the village he grew up in, but instead saw something he didn't recognize. He saw houses lined up in a row, and in the middle was a park. The park had a football (soccer) field and some playing equipment like swings and a slide. Then heard the door open, and he saw a surprised old lady. Shouldn't he be the one surprised, he thought? He didn't feel surprised, he recognizes the lady but couldn't remember who she was.

"Who are you," Draco asked, his voice sounding hoarse. He rubbed his throat wondering why his voice sounded like it did, "Where am I?"

"Draco," she said walking toward him.

"Stay back," he said.

Then he saw someone else walk in the room.

"Sophia I borrowed some clothes from Bru to give to Draco," he was going to say more, but he noticed Draco by the window, "Draco you're awake, how are you feeling?"

"I said who are you and where am I?" Draco demanded.

"Don't you recognize us? Were are your grandparents, Landon and Sophia."

Draco looked at them closely and remembered the picture of his mother with her parents, and these people before him resembled those people.

"Grandma Sophi?" Draco said, he tried to walk toward him but when he took a step his legs gave way and he fell to his knees. He put is hand in front of him to steady himself. He saw Landon put down the clothes he was holding and ran towards him followed by Sophia. Draco hated feeling helpless, as Landon helped him towards the bed.

"You shouldn't walk around to much, you had a hard day yesterday. I'm surprised that you're awake right now," Landon told him.

"I should get Poppy and Albus," Sophia said and then she left the room.

"What happened?" Draco asked.

"You don't remember?"

Draco shook his head and said, "I had a dream about my Death Eater ceremony, at least I think it's a dream." Draco looked at his grandfather and his eyes seemed to ask him to tell him it was just a dream. Then he saw his grandfather look grim.

"Draco it was not a dream, it really happened."

"You mean she's dead?" Draco asked him. Then Landon nodded.

"No…" Draco put his face in his hands, "It was all my fault. It was all my fault."

"It was not your fault Draco. You did not kill her, the Death Eaters did. You didn't kill her."

Draco seemed not to be listening. Then Albus Dumbledore along with Poppy Pomprey and Sophia walked in the room. Madame Pomprey quickly rushed to Draco and told him to lie in the bed, and having been in the hospital wing many time Draco complied.

"How are you Mister Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked.

"Please call me Draco. Don't call me Malfoy please," Draco asked him.

Landon looked at Draco sadly. The boy suffered so much at such a young age.

"All right Draco, how are?"

Draco said he felt a bit tired.

"Draco we need you to tell us what happened during the ceremony."

"Why don't you ask Professor Snape. He was there," Draco said.

Dumbledore looked at him, "Yes, Severus was there, but everything was chaotic, and we need to find out how you manage to be alive right now."

"I don't know how I managed to be alive. The last thing that I remember is Voldemort saying the killing curse."

Almost everybody except Dumbledore flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name. Seeing this Draco told them that he once heard Dumbledore saying 'fear of the name cause fear the thing itself.' Then he added that he would not let Voldemort have the pleasure of seeing him fear him.

"I don't fear that coward. Someone, who sends other people to do his bidding, killing muggles that obviously have no power to fight back. He's not even a pure blood, and he tries to kill muggleborn and halfbloods like himself," Draco said all of this with spite in his voice.

"I'm sorry about my outburst," Draco said.

"It is understandable," Dumbledore told him.

"I don't know how I survived the killing curse, I didn't even have my wand to defend me."

"Severus said you caused quite a commotion, you threw people towards the wall? He said you did it without a wand."

"Oh, that. That's happened before."

"Before?"

"It only happens when I'm mad. I did that to Lucius one time," Draco said with a laugh, "The first time that happened was the first time I saw him scared."

"So it's triggered by your anger?" Dumbledore asked him.

"Yes sir. I don't even know how to control it. It just happens."

"I see. This is not the first case. There has been many instances when people have been able to perform magic without a wand, usually it is triggered by strong emotions, anger for example."

"Really?" Draco asked. He was interested; Lucius never taught him anything about this, in fear that Draco will use it against him.

"Yes, but it is rare. Powerful wizard and witches have done it before."

"Is there a way to control it? Or does just happen spontaneously?"

Dumbledore smiled at his questions. He saw that Draco wanted to learn about his powers. Dumbledore said that few have done what he has done, but he didn't say how few.

"Yes, there is a way to control it. With training, throwing people to the wall won't be the only thing you can do."

"It looks like we got a bit off track. Is there anything else you wanted to add? Can you remember how you survived the killing curse?" Dumbledore asked.

"No. I can't remember how I survived it." Draco said, "Professor, what will happen to the manor, my mothers body?"

"I don't know Draco. Your mother's body is being held in St. Mungo's, they will need to know what will happen. I told your parents solicitors that I will contact you. I didn't disclose your location, it is still dangerous with the Death Eaters about."

Draco nodded at this information.

"When you are ready to talk to them, contact me via floo network." Dumbledore informed him, "I sorry but I must be off. Take care Draco, if you need me you know how to contact me. Do you have any questions?"

"Professor about my "power" I was wondering if I can get some training with it. I was wondering if it can be of any use to us."

"You want some training?" Dumbledore asked.

Draco nodded.

"I can get someone to help you as an extra course in school, but it won't have any credit. Is that okay with you."

"Really? Yes, I want to do it," Draco said obviously excited at the opportunity.

Dumbledore smiled, "I will see what I can do. Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?" 

Draco shook his head.

"I have to tell you one more thing. You cannot owl any of your friends, I am sorry if that will cause any inconvenience."

"It's okay."

"Well then. Good-bye and take care."

Then they heard a POP and he was gone.

"Well then I have to do a check up to see if you are fine," Madame Pomprey said.

"If you can please leave us," She said to Landon and Sophia.

After a few minutes, she let his grandparents come in.

"He looks fine and healthy. I made him drink a potion to restore some of his strength; all he need is rest and some nourishment. I am sure he is hungry, unfortunately I did not bring some food (Draco looked glad at this. He has been to the hospital wing many times and was subjected into eating her "food"). How he recovered to quickly is beyond me. Well that's all I have to go." 

Then she said her good byes and was gone with a POP.

"Well Draco it is 10:00 but we could fix you some breakfast. What do you say?"

"Yes, thank you. Is it okay if I take a shower first and dress up?"

"Yes of course, I borrowed some clothes from the boy next door. He is about your age, but he is a muggle. I think we are the only people with magic in this town."

"That's okay. I'm somewhat glad there aren't any people from wizarding families here. Most of them hate me because of the name Malfoy."

"Okay, here are some bags with clothes. The bathroom, I'm afraid there is only one, which is across from this room. Can you get there your self?" Landon asked.

"Yes, I can get there myself, thanks for asking."

"If you need anything we are down stairs in the kitchen. You can probably smell your grandmother's famous cooking," Landon said teasing his wife. 

Then they left leaving Draco alone. Draco looked through the bags and picked out some jeans and a blue button up shirt, then he went to the bathroom. He got out a towel from one of the cabinets in the bathroom. He turned on the hot water in the shower. He took off his clothes and got in the shower to enjoy his bath.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Hermione could not believe what she had to do. She had to befriend Malfoy, the ferret. She asked her aunt for the umpteenth time if she got the right person. All of her aunt's answers were the same, yes.

"How can you be sure. There are millions of people in the world why Malfoy?"

"I take it that your not friends with the boy," Her aunt commented taking a sip of the tea that her sister prepared for them.

"Friend!? Oh. Enemy is not even strong enough of a word to describe my relationship with the person," Hermione said, "Wait a minute did I say relationship?"

"Hermione, people change. With the things that has happened to him recently he probably won't be the same person you remember him as," Her aunt tried to tell her. She had to get Hermione to be friends with this Draco Malfoy. She has heard of the Malfoy family, and with the things that people are saying about them she could not blame Hermione's reaction.

"Him change? You have got to be kidding. He has the heart of stone. I won't be surprised if he's a Death Eater."

"Don't say that. We can't be sure. How well do you really know him? There has to be a reason why you two can't get along."

"He is the most bigoted, nastiest, annoying person in Hogwarts. He practically has a smirk plastered to his face. He has tried to get me and my friends expelled from Hogwarts every chance he can get. He almost got one of the teachers fired."

"You make it sound like he needs a friend."

Hermione looked at her Aunt as if she grew two heads. What was her aunt talking about, Malfoy have friends. Hermione thought about what her aunt said. Crabbe and Goyle were like bodyguards. Pansy Parkinson just hung around him.

"Hermione, give the person a chance to show you another side of himself. You have to be friends with him, even if you don't want to. Our family has been waiting for this chance for centuries. I will not let you ruin it because of some fight you two had when you started school. Grow up!" Linda lost her temper. Her whole family's goal was to find Darien and Gwenivere and set them up together and she will do everything in her power to achieve that goal. This was the first time Hermione saw her Aunt angry and lose her temper. This must be big for her. Hermione went to her aunt and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry Aunt Linda. I never really realized how important this was to you. I'll try to be friends with Malfoy, but I'm not sure if he'll do the same thing."

Hermione looked at her aunt. She just promised her to be friends with Malfoy. What I have I gotten myself into she thought.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Draco walked down the stairs, and was able to smell his grandmother's cooking. He was able to find the kitchen by following the smell. He saw his grandmother cooking omelets on the stove, and his grandfather was trying to fix a light bulb.

"Hello Draco," His grandmother said, "Why don't you get a chair and start eating."

Draco nodded, before he could sit down he heard the doorbell. His grandmother looked busy cooking and his grandfather couldn't leave what he was doing. He didn't know what that chime was for, then it rang again.

"Draco can you get the front door. You just heard a doorbell, it means that someone is at the door," His grandfather told him.

Draco nodded and walked to the door. When he opened the door, he saw a sandy haired boy about his age. The boy smiled when he saw him.

"Hello you must be Draco. I'm Bru, I live next door. Your grandfather came this morning to borrow some clothes saying that you came yesterday. I brought some more clothes (he showed Draco a bag)," The boy said.

"Come in," Draco moved aside and didn't know what to do.

"Thank you," Bru said, "Are you guys just eating breakfast?"

"Yes."

"Is that you Bru?" Sophia said from the kitchen.

"Yes, Grandma Sophie," Bru replied.

"Why don't you eat breakfast with us. Unless you already ate," She replied.

Draco and Bru walked to the kitchen. When Bru saw Sophia was already finished with the cooking he went over to her and greeted her with a hug.

"Thank you for inviting me again Grandma Sophie. I don't know what I'll do without you."

Landon was also finished fixing the light bulb.

"Draco, this is Bru. He is somewhat a surrogated son. He comes here for breakfast almost everyday. I would be weird if he didn't come," Landon told him.

"Yeah. When I turned ten, my mom refused to cook us breakfast. I had to live off cereal and milk for a month until Grandma Sophie over here invited me for breakfast. Ever since, I've been coming here to eat her superb cooking." He said.

Bru helped himself to omelets, toast and some muffins.

"So Draco, do you play any sports," Bru asked him.

"Yes, but you probably never heard of it before. They play it at my school."

"What's it called?"

"Quidditch."

"Actually I've heard of it before, but I don't know how it's played. Quidditch sounds like a cool name."

Draco looked surprised at Bru's answer, so did Landon and Sophia.

"You've heard of Quidditch?"

"Yeah. I heard my friend Hermione talk about it on the phone with one of her school friends. Can you tell me how it's played so I can actually have a decent conversation with the girl?"

Draco didn't hear his question. 

"Hermione Granger?" He asked.

"Yeah, you know her?"

"Yes, unfortunately. She goes to my school." Draco replied.

"Are you sure she goes to your school?" Bru asked him.

"Yes. I'm sure. How many Hermione Grangers do you know?"

"You have a point. But she said that she went to the all girls school, Sacred Hearts. That's why I asked you if you went to the same school. I'm sure you're not a girl, right?"

"Of course I'm not a girl. Your friend Hermione lied to you about her school, because we go to the same school. We have some of the same classes. She's the know-it-all, perfectionist, teacher's pet person."

"Yeah that's her all right. I can't believe Hermione would lie about her school. I mean, we've been best friends since we were babies. I practically grew up with her," Bru said.

Draco decided not to tell Bru about Granger's "best friends" in Hogwarts, Potter and Weasley. Bru seemed hurt that Hermione lied to him, if he found out that she had new best friends, he would be hurt more.

"Oh well, I'll make her pay later. Right now, I'm hungry. Let's eat," Bru said.

At that, they had small conversations. Bru asked Draco various things about himself, and he learned a few things about him too. He wanted to know Draco a bit more; to him Draco seemed like an okay guy.

-*-*-*

"I can't believe that you didn't have electricity at your house. That is so medieval. It's like you like in the Stone Age," Bru said during one of his conversations with Draco after their breakfast.

"I'm afraid so. My father liked to live the old fashion way. We lighted the hallway with candle light," Draco told him. 

Draco was actually enjoying his conversation with Bru. He actually learned a few things about muggles he found interesting. His father was wrong about his view on muggles. Draco was fascinated at how the muggles survived without magic. They didn't need magic when they had the technology to do things for themselves.

"I really need to introduce you to the T.V, radio, computer. You're missing a lot of great stuff living the way you are," Bru said.

"Can you teach me about how electricity works?" Draco said.

"Teach about electricity? Man, if you want to learn about electricity, you are asking to be taught stuff that takes three years for the teachers to teach us. I don't even understand it."

"Oh," Draco said.

"Well if you're really interested. Why don't you ask Hermione," Bru said, "Wait a minute you still have to get your introduction party."

"Introduction party?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. It's a tradition here at Raven's Creek. Whenever some new person moves into town, the people here hold a party to introduce them to the neighbors. It's a good way to meet the people here," Bru explained.

Landon overheard Bru talking about the Introduction Party.

"Draco, are you strong enough to have the party?" Landon asked.

"Yes. I'm strong enough. I can walk. Madame Pomprey just exaggerates my condition."

"That's great. We can introduce you today," Landon said.

"Today?" Draco asked

"Yes. They are having a welcome back party for Melanie Granger's sister, Linda." Landon said.

"Oh. I want to be introduced today. The sooner the better," Draco said.

"Yeah. You should be. If I have to teach things about T.V, computers and the _electricity,_ I need all the help I can get." Bru said.

"So it's settled. You're going to be introduced today. I'll just go tell the Grangers the party is going to be held in their house," Landon said.

Draco couldn't believe the stuff he was hearing. He was actually going to go to Granger's house. He couldn't wait to see her face. He spent almost the entire day talking to Bru.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

"Hermione!"

A girl with short black hair hugged Hermione.

"Tracy! How are you?" Hermione said. She was happy to see one of her best friends in the muggle world.

"I'm fine. Look at you, you look… umm different," Tracy said.

"I are you trying to say I look ugly. Trace," Hermione said feigning hurt.

"Actually you look beautiful," They heard a deep voice, obviously coming from a boy.

Hermione turned around and almost fell over at what she saw. She probably wouldn't have recognized him if it weren't for his silvery blond hair. Draco Malfoy was standing before her, and he has changed from the scrawny boy she remembered him as. Draco finally getting his growth spurt rose to an even 6 feet, and he develop some visible muscles to go with it. He looks different without his trademark smirk, he was actually smiling, something he never saw him do. She also saw the scar running form his eyebrow going across his nose. She had to admit Draco Malfoy was handsome.

"Draco, why did you leave me? You run fast. Couldn't wait to see Hermione, right?" Bru said. Winking and nudging Draco.

"Yeah. Couldn't wait to see Hermione," Draco said. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't take his eyes off her. Know-it-all Granger has grown up. He wasn't lying when he said that she was beautiful. She grew a few inches, reach a height of 5ft. 6inches. She develop curves in the right places. He was mesmerized with her.

"Malfoy. What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

Bru put his arm around Draco's shoulders.

"Hermione. Mind your manners. Draco here is Grandma Sophie's grandson," Bru explained.

"What?!" Hermione said. She couldn't believe it, Malfoy was the grandson of the nicest people she knew. When she looked at him closer, she could see his resemblance to Landon Dupre. Tracy walked towards Draco, shook his hand, and introduced herself.

The rest of the night was eventful. To Hermione's' surprise Draco didn't say anything nasty to any one. He was actually kind; this was a side of Draco she never saw before. Although he was kind, she couldn't forget all the things that he has done before. He insulted her many times using the insult mudblood. Nearing the end of the party when everybody was gone Draco went outside to get some air, Hermione followed him.

"Okay Malfoy give up the act. What exactly are you doing here?" Hermione said.

"It's beautiful out here. You can see the stars clearly," Draco commented.

"Don't change the subject. Why were you so _nice_ to me?" Hermione asked him.

"I wasn't pretending," Draco said facing her. His face was blank; he didn't show any emotion.

Seeing that she doubted him, he walked closer to her.

"I mean it," He whispered in her ear. Hermione felt nervous that he was so close to her. She felt his breath on her ear when he whispered. Then she pushed him.

"You expect me to believe that. After all the mean things, you did to me. You expect me to think that you can change in a such a short period of time," She nearly shouted.

"I never changed. This is me," Draco said

Hermione laughed.

"You were never like this. What? No mudblood? Are you going to insult me? Nobody is around. Act like the person I knew in Hogwarts. Go ahead," Hermione said.

"What? You want me to call you that?" Draco asked, "Do you want me to hurt you?"

"Isn't that what you always did. Aren't you going to hurt me? Perhaps take me as a sacrifice to your master, Voldemort. Isn't that what you are a Death Eater?" She said.

Draco pushed her to the wall and pinned both her hands so she couldn't get away. She could see that she made him angry.

"Don't you dare call me that. I will never call that him master. I'm not one of them. I will never be one of them. Do you hear me? I don't want to hurt you. I'm not sure if you'll take my apology, but I'm sorry for calling mudblood. I'm sorry for hurting you in school. I'm sorry for making your life miserable in Hogwarts," Draco said. Throughout all that he did not yell or scream at her, but he got his point through. She saw that he was sincere.

"You're hurting me," Hermione said. Seeing that he was bruising her, he released her.

"I'm sorry," He said.

Hermione was massaging her wrists. Draco took one of her wrist and kissed it on the bruise.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked surprised at his action.

"My mother used to say if you kiss a wound of something that you hurt, it will heal," Draco explained.

"You really have changed," Hermione commented, "I'm sorry about what I said about you earlier."

"It's okay, if you accept my apology," Draco said.

"I accept your apology."

"I almost became a Death Eater," Draco said.

Hermione looked at him surprised.

"What happened?"

"I tried to run from it. They killed my parents." 

Draco didn't know why he was telling her this. He somehow knew that he could trust her.

"Is that why you're here?" Hermione asked, for the first time feeling sorry for him.

Draco nodded. They sat on the grass not saying anything for a few minutes. Hermione broke the silence.

"So what now?" She asked.

"Why don't we start over," Draco suggested. Hermione asked how. Draco held out his right hand.

"Hello, my name is Draco," He said. Hermione looked at his hand then looked at his face. Then she took his hand.

"My name is Hermione," She shook his hand.

This was the beginning of their friendship.

-*-*-*-*-*-*

Hermione and Draco became close friends during that summer. Hermione introduced Draco to her aunt. Her aunt told him about Darien and Gwenivere. He was surprised that she knew about them. He told her that he has been having dreams about Darien and Gwenivere. Linda told him that he was Darien's heir. He and Gwenivere were given a second chance to prove their love to each other. Draco didn't believe her at first, but then Hermione talked to him and told him how important this was to Linda. Linda showed him Hermia's diary, which she eventually gave to Hermione. The thing that made Draco believe that he was Darien was the locket. The locket that Darien gave to Gwenivere as a symbol of his love for her. When he opened the locket, he saw a picture of Darien, which surprisingly looked like him. On the other side of the locket, he saw a picture that was blurry. He asked Linda why this was, and she said that he has to find out who Gwenivere is before the picture will clear up. He asked her how he will find out where and who Gwenivere is. She said that she is sure that Gwenivere is also at Hogwarts, and the locket should help him find out who she is. She gave him the locket to keep. When summer finally ended Draco and Hermione said good-bye to their friends. Draco rode with Hermione to King Cross' Station. Hermione saw Harry and Ron together so she said good-bye to Draco and went to them. Hermione and Draco agreed to keep their friendship a secret. Draco got an empty compartment in the back and closed the door.

Draco was alone for about two minutes when the door opened and Crabbe and Goyle walked in.

"Draco, how are you?" Goyle asked.

"I'm fine."

"Draco we want you to know that we are your friends. We heard about what happened. Me, Goyle and Pansy talked about it. We won't join them, we never really wanted to." Crabbe told him.

"We will still be at your side, when you need us," Goyle said.

Draco was surprised at what they said. He expected them to end their friendship with him after what he did. He couldn't believe how loyal these guys were. Draco did something he never did to them he hugged them and he smiled. Crabbe and Goyle looked surprised, but smiled back.

"Thank you guys," Draco said.

"If you need us we will be at the Slytherin compartment. I'm sure you want to be alone," Goyle said.

Draco nodded. Then Crabbe and Goyle left. Draco was again alone. About five minutes after the train started moving the door opened. He saw a girl with auburn hair trying to bring her trunk in the room. Draco helped her, when he did this she turned to look at him and she looked surprised.

"I'm sorry. I thought that this compartment was empty," She said

"It's okay," Draco smiled at her, he didn't know why. He was smiling a lot lately.

She thought about what she was going to say next.

"Do you mind if I stay here?" She asked.

A/N: So, what do you guys think, was it good or bad? I'm sorry if you guys didn't like the Draco/Hermione scenes, but I had to make them friends somehow. Again, this is a Draco/Ginny fic. Draco and Hermione have a sort of brother/sister relationship, that's all. Tell me what you guys think by reviewing. I won't be able to update until next week.

Next Chapter: Draco finds out the name of the auburn haired girl (we all know who she is). We find out how the locket helps Draco find Gwenivere. Draco also finds out who Gwenivere is. 


	6. Chapter 4b: Author's Note

Author's Note: I'm sorry if you guys thought that this was an update. In my rush to get the previous chapter uploaded, I forgot to say a few things. First, I would like to say sorry for rushing Draco and Hermione's friendship, it may have seemed OOC. I was wondering if I should make a separate fic focusing on Draco and Hermione's summer, to explain what happened in detail. Parts of the summer may be revealed in my story, Forever, little by little. Some of you may be wondering why Draco did not remember how he survived the killing curse, the reason will be revealed later in the story. Hint: It has to do with Darien. I got the idea for the introduction party from Maura Belle's story Forgetting Draco Malfoy. I would also want to know whom you guys think I should pair up with Hermione, Ron or Harry. I think that is all.

This is a mini-chapter

A brown haired lady walked into a dark room. There was a fire lit in the fireplace but it was slowly dying. A woman was seated in a purple cushion couch facing the fire.

"My Lady." The brown haired woman said and bowed.

"Linda, come closer, you may get up," The woman said

Linda walked to the couch. The woman looked at her.

"How is Darien?" The woman said.

"He is fine my lady. Hermione and Darien are searching for Gwenivere. I think he may have found her," Linda answered.

"That is good, is there a relationship between Darien and your niece?" The woman asked, "I have watched them, they seem more than friends."

"No my lady." Linda answered. "My lady I have a question."

"What is your question?" The woman asked.

"I Hermione is the heir, why hasn't she had dreams Darien and Gwenivere?" Linda asked.

"I have not let her have any dreams. She was not ready, as is Henry." The woman answered.

"Henry?"

"Yes, he played an important role. Many people thought that he killed Darien. We have no proof." The woman answered. "We need to find him as well."

"I will tell Hermione and Darien to look for him. Is there anything else you would like me to do for you my lady?"

"No."

"My lady when will I bring Hermione to you?"

"You cannot bring her to me. I cannot interfere anymore. I would like it to run its course. The sooner they are together the sooner I can finally rest. I have live a long time I am old. I am getting tired. The thing I would like most is rest." The woman said. "It is getting late you should be going."

"Yes my lady. If you need please call me." Linda said. The woman did not answer; she stared back at the fire. When Linda did not hear an answer she turned and left the room.

A/N: So what do you guys think? Who is this mysterious woman? What does she have to do with Darien and Gwenivere? Please review or email me at radram009@yahoo.com to reply to the things stated in the above author's note.

Next chapter: The same as previously planned. Draco finds out who Gwenivere is. 


	7. Chapter 5: Their Meeting

Disclaimer: All characters except Linda, Landon and Sophia Dupre, Bru and Tracy all belong to Mrs. Rowlings and her many publishers. Linda and the rest of the characters are figments of my imagination.

Thank you's: Elenya Thank you for your 2 reviews, Blue Lady, Cham, Angel-Hiragizawa32 (for your question about Hermione's name, Linda calls her Hermione because she is her niece, the mysterious lady does not refer to her as Hermia for personal reasons, you'll find out why in much later on in the story. Are you still confused? I promise that it will all make sense when we find out who the mysterious lady is. She plays a big role in this story even though she only shows up a few times.)

A/N: Many people were commenting on how I made Draco and Hermione friends quickly, many things happened in their summer that made them close. I might put some stuff about what happened to them in the chapters. Draco may seem OOC in my story because the things that happened to him made him change his opinion about the Dark Lord; the Death Eater ceremony is a reason for his change of character. Would you still talk about the person that killed your mother with such reverence? There will be another dream sequence in the end. This is before Darien dies. Also there may be some "bad" words in this chapter, I am sorry if you're offended, but I tried my best to keep them out of my story. Okay I think that is all I have to say, well, on with the story.

Chapter 5: Their meeting

Draco's first reaction was to say no to the girl. He realized she was a Weasleyafter seeing her second hand clothes and her auburn-red hair. However, something else came out of his mouth.

"Fine, sit over there," He said gesturing to the seat across from where he was previously sitting. He pulled her trunk inside the compartment. After he looked out the door, he closed it. When he saw her staring at him their eyes lock and she turned away. Draco felt a burning sensation around his wrist where he was wearing the locket as a bracelet. He covered the locket with his sleeve.

"Do I have something on my face?" He asked her. For some reason, the girl blushed.

"Um. No, no you don't," She answered.

"Then why were you staring at me?"

"I wasn't."

"Really?" Draco asked and he smirked his trademark smirk.

"Fine, I was staring at you. You look different," Ginny answered blushing profoundly.

"Really. How so?" Draco was enjoying making this Weasley girl nervous. Draco promised Hermione that he will be kind to any girl he meets just in case they turned out to be Gwenivere, but he was enjoying this to much.

"I don't know, um, you grew taller," She said. When she said that Draco walked towards her and sat dangerously close.

"Really? Is that all?" He whispered in her ear. Ginny moved away from him a little. Then he held out a hand and ran is fingers through her hair.

"Malfoy if you know what is good for you, you will keep your hands to yourself," Ginny told him. Draco didn't appear to be listening.

"You're a Weasley right?" He asked knowing the answer. Ginny finally moved to the other seat.

"Yes I am," she answered.

"What is your name, I've heard it before but I never paid close attention."

"Why would you want to know my name?" Ginny asked.

"Well if I'm talking to someone about you, I wouldn't want to call you Weasley. People might think I'm talking about one of your many brothers," Draco said.

"Ginny."

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that. You need to speak louder."

"I said my name is Ginny."

"Ginny. Is that really your real name?"

"My real name is Virginia, but everybody calls me Ginny."

"I'll call you Ginny, Virginia sounds like virgin," Draco commented.

Ginny took that as an insult. She was starting to regret sitting with Malfoy. Just then, the train jerked and Draco and Ginny were thrown to the floor. Ginny ended up on top of Draco, she tried to get up but Draco held her back.

"Why Ginny, if you wanted me you should have said so, you really shouldn't resort to actions," Draco teased her. Ginny struggled and finally got up, but Draco grabbed her wrist, and she touched the locket. Draco suddenly had a flashback.

__

"Lord Darien please let go, I have to leave," Gwenivere pleaded with him.

Darien looked at her and saw that she was afraid; he let go of her wrist, and watched her run from him.

Draco looked at her in shock. It couldn't be, he thought. She couldn't be Gwenivere. Ginny also looked at Draco questionably; she felt a shock when he grabbed her.

"I have to go," Draco said and he left her alone.

Draco ran through the corridor looking for the room Hermione was in. He finally found the room and opened the door. When he opened it he saw Potter and the three Weasleys look at him. When they recognized him they jumped from their seats and pointed their wands at him.

"What are you doing here Malfoy, get out," Ron told him.

"Where's your bodyguards Malfoy, did they finally leave you?" Harry said.

"I'm not here to pick a fight Potter," Draco told him, "Granger, we have a Prefect's meeting."

"You're a Prefect, you have got to be kidding me. What did your father do? Pay of the board of directors?" Ron said.

Draco got mad at the mention of his father, but he kept his patience, "My father is dead Weasley, you should have known that if you read the papers. Of course, you don't know how to read do you? Parents probably could afford to teach you."

At that, Ron jumped up and was about to attack Draco but Hermione held him back.

"Ron calm down, go Malfoy I'll see you outside," Hermione said.

"Hermione you can't go out there with Malfoy, how do you know that he is telling the truth about being a Prefect?" Ron asked.

"He was telling the truth, when I got my Hogwarts letter telling me I was a Prefect it had a list of the other people also selected, and Draco Malfoy was on the list. Don't worry Ron I can take care of myself, I have my wand, I probably know more hexes than that git," Hermione told him. Ron looked doubtful but finally agreed. Hermione did something she never did before, she hugged Ron and left.

"Ron saying that thing about his father was low, even if he is Malfoy," George told him.

"Wait a minute," Harry said, "Is Malfoy's father really dead?" Harry had to stay with the Dursleys the entire summer as a safety precaution. All three Weasley boys nodded.

"Even I felt sorry for the git when we read the Daily Prophet. Both his parents died because of a Death Eater attack, Malfoy went missing," Fred explained.

"That can't be, Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater. I saw him when Voldemort was reborn." 

Harry wasn't surprised to see them flinch at Voldemort's name.

"Even so, they still killed him. Dad was there; he saw Lucius Malfoy's body. He even said that Malfoy was orphaned before the papers came out."

"Where did Malfoy go?" Harry asked.

"Dad didn't want to say, he said it was safer that nobody knew," Fred said. After he said that nobody talked about Draco anymore.

_*_*_*_*_*_

When Hermione finally came outside, Draco grabbed her hand and started walking.

"Malfoy let go of me, I can walk by myself," Hermione said, when he didn't do anything Hermione said that he was hurting her. Draco loosened his grip around her hand. When he finally saw the room he was looking for, he opened the door and practically pushed Hermione inside. When he got in the room he locked the door and put a silencing spell around the room. When Hermione looked around the room, she recognized it as the bathroom.

"What wrong with you Draco?" Hermione asked, "What was so important that you couldn't wait until you could owl me?"

Draco took the locket off his wrist and pushed it in Hermione's hand.

"There, open it," He ordered her. Hermione looked at him questionably, but followed his order. When she opened the locket, she looked shocked and dropped it. Draco quickly picked it up from the floor and examined it to make sure it wasn't damaged.

"What is wrong with you?" Draco asked, "Do you know how old this thing is? You could have broken it."

"I can't believe it. What happened? How did you find her?" Hermione asked, "You didn't do anything to ruin your chances with her did you?"

"I take it that its Weasley isn't it?" Draco asked.

Hermione nodded. Draco opened the locket and the picture that used to be blurry was replaced. The picture was now of a lady with auburn hair, she looked very much like Ginny Weasley.

"I can't believe it, who would have thought that the little Weasel would be Gwenivere," Draco said, he closed the toilet seat and sat on it, "It's impossible, I can't make her fall for me, I hate her, she hates me."

"What do you mean? You didn't do anything to her did you?"

"No. I don't think I did anything."

"What do you mean you don't think?" Hermione was beginning to get angry with him; "If you ruin your chances with her I don't know what I'll do to you. Do you know how hard…"

"Shut Up!" Draco said, Hermione looked hurt. Ever since their summer, Draco was never rude to her. Draco saw her hurt look, "Look, I'm sorry, but you're not being fair. Do you know how hard this is for me?"

Hermione didn't answer.

"Do you think that this is easy? Our families have been at each other's throat for centuries. You don't expect her and me to fall suddenly in love do you. I have said so many things to her family and her that I regret. I teased them about their money problems even before Hogwarts, do you think that she will suddenly forget how I've treated her?"

"No, but you never really paid attention to her. You mostly just teased Harry and us," Hermione said.

"How much do you want to bet that her brothers and parents warned her to stay away from me? Their parents probably told her that Malfoy is a synonym for evil bast*rd."

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't thin…"Hermione said but was not able to finish because Draco interrupted her.

"You're right you didn't think," Draco said angrily.

"Oh come on, I said I was sorry," Hermione said. Hermione went over to him and hugged him. Since he was sitting and she was standing, his head was on her stomach. Hermione looked down on him and stroked his hair, Draco didn't move.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think, it's just that this is so important to my aunt. I don't want to let her down," Hermione told him.

Draco leaned back to look at her eye to eye and he saw that this was also important to her. Hermione has done so many good things for him despite all the things he has done to her in the past years. She was his first real friend.

"Okay, I promise you that I will try to win Ginny's heart, but I can't guarantee any results," Draco told her and he got up from his seat. Hermione smiled and hugged him again.

"Oh thank you Draco, this means so much to me," She said.

"I know," Draco said.

After he said that, she said she had to go. If Ron and Harry went to look for her and couldn't find her, they would immediately start to worry for her. They said their good byes and she left him. Draco just stood there for a while. He finally left the bathroom and walked back to his compartment. When he tried to push the door he couldn't, it was locked. He remembered that he would be "nice" to the Weasley girl. He knocked on the door.

"Ginny open the door!" He practically yelled. He heard a shuffling inside.

"Wait a moment. I'm changing into my school robes," Ginny said. After a minute she finally opened the door, and when she did that he walked pass her.

"Could you please get out?" Draco asked her.

"Why should I?" Ginny asked staying on her ground.

"I also need to change. Unless you want to stare at me again," Draco answered. Ginny didn't say anything; she just left the room not wanting to fight with him.

When Ginny closed the door. Draco went to his trunk and took out his school robes, white button up shirt and his green/silver Slytherin tie. He didn't need to change his pants so he just took off his shirt. He saw his Dark Mark. It was still pale; he could clearly see the "X" over it.

"You did not force him did you?" Voldemort paused. "Kill the mother."

"NO" Draco then ran and pushed his way to his mother, but was blocked. He could not get there in time.

AVADA KEDAVRA

Draco watched helplessly as his mother slumped to the ground, lifeless.

He traced the Dark Mark with his finger.

"I'm sorry mother," He said to no one. He put on his shirt, but before he could do the buttons Ginny walked in and closed the door behind her. When she saw him she blushed, but she didn't look away. Draco saw that she was examining him. He crossed his arms and smirked.

"Enjoy what you're seeing Virginia?" Draco asked saying her name seductively.

When Ginny saw that he was smirking at her, she blushed a deeper shade of red.

"I'm sorry Malfoy. Pansy Parkinson and some other Slytherins were walking by, I didn't want to have an encounter with them," Ginny tried to explain without stuttering.

Draco didn't say anything, he walked towards her and cornered her against the door by putting his hands on each side of her. She was stuck between him and the door. He was so close to her that she could smell his cologne. She tried to think of something to say but was unsuccessful. His bare chest exposed to her didn't help her a bit.

"First of all Ginny, do you hate me?" Draco asked.

"No," Ginny answered quickly, "No, I don't hate you Malfoy."  


"And second, don't call me Malfoy, if you want me to call you Ginny don't call me Malfoy."

"What am I supposed to call you?" Ginny asked.

"Try my first name Virginia," Draco told her.

"Draco?"

"Very good Virginia, you're not as slow as your stupid git of a brother," Draco said. When he said this he made Ginny mad. She punched him hard on the stomach. Draco being caught off guard was pushed back a little, but was not hurt by the punch. Ginny on the other hand was nursing her hand.

"You're a fiery one aren't you?"

"Don't insult my brother," Ginny told him.

"I think you hurt yourself more than you hurt me," Draco commented.

Draco walked over to her and took her hand. She tried to pull away, but he held her and kissed her hand. Ginny stared at him in shock.

"What?" Draco asked seeing her shocked expression, "Did your mother ever kiss a wound of yours saying it'll get better?"

"You're not my mother," Ginny told him.

"You're right. I guess I'm not your mother." Draco went to his seat and buttoned up his shirt. Ginny stood where she was just staring at him. What did he just do, she asked herself. Then when he put on his robe she saw a Prefect's badge.

"You're a Prefect?"

"Why, yes I am, see this Prefect badge. It means…" He started but was not able to finish.

"I know what a Prefect badge symbolizes. It's just that…"Ginny started, trying to think of what to say next.

"What?"

"You must have worked hard to get that position," Ginny answered.

"Thank you!" Draco exclaimed, "At least someone on this train figured out that I didn't pay my way to get this position. I actually worked hard to become a Prefect."

"What do you mean?"

"Forget it," Draco told her. Ginny went to her seat and sat down. They didn't say anything to each other until the lady with the lunch cart came around.

"Would you kids want anything from the cart?" She asked.

Draco stood up, went to the cart, and looked at the selections.

"Do you want anything Ginny?" He asked her.

She was surprised when he said this. Why was he being nice to me, she thought.

"Ginny, do you want anything?" he asked again.

"No thank you," Ginny answered politely.

"Can I have two of everything," He told the lady. After he paid her, he brought all his purchases to his seat across from Ginny. Draco took a pumpkin pasty and took a bite. After he swallowed, he asked Ginny a question.

"Are you sure you don't want anything? I bought some things in case you change your mind."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Ginny asked him.

"Why do you ask?"

"Why am I asking? This is not you Draco," She answered him.

"How would you know what I'm like, we never talked before. I never did anything to you. Why, this is actually the first time we're together," He told her.

"My brothers say that you are not a nice person," She said.

"Are you quoting them?" Draco asked.

"Well… yes, but that's not the point," she said.

"What is your point Ginny?" He asked her, "Are you trying to say that I'm supposed to be the evil Slytherin that all brothers tell their sisters to stay away from? Am I the person that is always supposed to be the bad guy?" Draco's voice was starting to get louder. He was starting to get annoyed with the girl.

"Yes. Wait a minute, no." Ginny answered.

Draco clenched his fist; he was losing his temper. Don't do anything irrational he told himself. Be nice to the girl.

"Is it so bad to try to do something good for someone once in a while?" He asked her trying to keep his voice down.

Just then, the train stopped moving. They reached the station. Draco didn't wait for her to answer; he left the compartment without looking back. Ginny was left alone. She looked at the food that he left. Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut she asked herself. Malfoy was actually trying to do a good thing, but it was too good to be real so she questioned it. She looked at the food again; she got a bag and put the food in it. She decided to owl the food to him and write an apology letter. She couldn't believe it; she was actually asking forgiveness from a Malfoy. If her brothers find out… no they couldn't find out, she decided to keep what happened to herself. She was sure that Draco was not going to tell anybody either. Did she just call him Draco? What is the world coming to, she thought. She left the compartment and ran outside to catch a carriage.

*-*-*-*

Through out the entire sorting ceremony Ginny couldn't stop thinking about Draco. She looked towards the Slytherin table and saw the back of his head.

"Ginny, Ginny are you all right?" someone asked her. When she looked, she saw that the speaker was Hermione.

"Oh, I'm fine Hermione. I was just thinking about something," Ginny said.

"Really?" Hermione asked. Harry laughed when she said this.

"Ginny, did you know that Hermione was trying to get your attention for about five minutes?" Harry told her.

"Oh, I'm sorry Hermione. It's just that…" Ginny started, but stopped to clap as a girl got sorted in the Gryffindor house.

"Did something happen on the train Ginny?" Hermione asked. Ginny looked at her questionably, she couldn't know, could she?

"No, nothing happened Hermione," Ginny answered.

"Are you sure Ginny, because if something happened you could trust me," Hermione said. When Ginny looked at her, Hermione looked like she was pleading for her to tell her what happened.

"Hermione, nothing happened to me. Don't worry to much, stress is bad for you," Ginny said.

"I'm just worried about you Ginny, you're like a sister to me," Hermione said. Hermione was not lying when she said this. Ever since the summer she spent at the Burrow, she became a good friend with Ginny. Ginny was touched when Hermione said that.

"Thank you Hermione," Ginny said.

"Ginny if you need someone to talk to I'm here," Hermione said.

Dumbledore stood up to say his announcements.

"Good evening students, welcome to another year here at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. I would like to welcome all the new students we received today. I would like to say that due to recent events the security around the castle has been tighter. On a more better note I would like to congratulate the students that have made Prefect this year if I call your name please stand up: From the Gryffindor House Hermione Granger (all the Gryffindors including some people in the other houses except for Slytherin clapped for her. Angela Johnson patted Hermione on the back 'way to go Hermione you deserved it.' Dumbledore signaled to students to be quiet.) For the Ravenclaw house, Padma Patil, (Padma got the same treatment as Hermione, Pavarti was one of the people clapping the loudest.) From the Hufflepuff house, Justin Finch-Fletchley (Most of his claps came from the Hufflepuff house.) Finally from the Slytherin House, Draco Malfoy. (at this everybody started whispering 'is that Draco Malfoy?' 'Did you hear what happened this summer' the first person to start clapping was Pansy Parkinson, then Crabbe and Goyle started clapping, only half to the Slytherins clapped for him and about one or two people from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but none from Gryffindor. Ginny heard her brothers talking 'so the git wasn't lying when he said he was a Prefect,' she remembered what he said._ "Thank you!" Draco exclaimed, "At least someone on this train figured out that I didn't pay my way to get this position. I actually worked to become a Prefect."_ Ginny finally figured out that her brothers said something to him about being a Prefect. She felt sorry for Draco, he worked hard to become a Prefect and nobody realizes that. She stood up and started clapping, when she did this everybody turned to look at her including Draco. Ginny didn't care about the people staring at her, she tried to catch Draco's eye and when she did, she mouthed 'I'm sorry to him,' he looked confused then nodded at her, then he sat down.) That is all I have to say. Let's eat!" Dumbledore said.

When Ginny sat down Ron asked her why she clapped for Malfoy.

"Ron, when someone gets the position of Prefect it usually means that academically they are overachievers, it's only right to clap for their _outstanding_ work," Ginny said casually, "Hermione could you please pass the chicken?"

Hermione smiled inside as she passed it to Ginny, but at the same time wondered what happened at the train.

"Thank you Hermione," Ginny said.

"This is Malfoy we're talking about Ginny," Ron said.

"So?" Ginny said.

"So? So? Ginny did you hear a thing I said. Malfoy, stinky Slytherin. Ring a bell," Ron said.

"Ron, I don't want to talk about it right now," Ginny told him.

"Fine Ginny, I'm just worried about you, just take care of yourself around Malfoy," Ron told her. Ginny looked at her brother, he really cares about me she thought. She went over to Ron and hugged him. Across from the room Draco watched the scene with interest. He saw Hermione look at him. He raised a cup to her and was about drink when suddenly his eyes widened and he dropped the cup. Hermione turned to look at what he was looking at, she eyes widened at what she saw.

"Oh my Goodne…" Hermione started.

"Hermione are you all right?" Ron asked her. Hermione opened and closed her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Ron looked at what she was staring at, and he saw a brown haired lady walking towards Dumbledore and started talking to him. Dumbledore smiled and turned to the students.

"Everybody may I have your attention," Dumbledore said and waited for everybody to look at him before he continued, "I would like to introduce Linda Shaw, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Everybody clapped and then the new teacher sat down next to Professor Snape who scowled.

"Hermione, are you all right? Do you know the new DADA teacher?" Ginny asked her.

"I've seen her somewhere before," Hermione answered. Why didn't her aunt tell her she was going to be the new DADA teacher she asked herself.

They rest of the evening went by with nothing else happening. After everyone finished eating, each of the new Prefects showed the first years the way to their dormitory. After Hermione got the first years to the tower she told Ron and Harry that she had to talk to Professor McGonagall about her schedule and told them not the wait up. Hermione said good night to Ginny who went immediately to her room to write a letter.

When Ginny got to her room she got put a piece of parchment and decided upon what to write in the letter. After she wrote the letter she rolled it up and put it on the table next to her bed. She changed into her pajamas and climbed in her bed. Sleep eventually caught her and she fell asleep and started dreaming.

*-*-*-*-*-*-

__

Two men were inside a carriage, one with silver-blond hair and the other with hair as dark as night.

"I cannot believe uncle would do this to me," the blond haired man said.

"Darien, this is a chance to finally see the countryside, enjoy it," the black haired man said.

"Enjoy it Henry? Are you out of your mind? If it were any other place I would enjoy, why, I would even enjoy being away from the city, from everything," Darien said, "Do you know where he is sending us?"

__

"He is just sending us to the manor," Henry answered, "What is wrong with sending us there?"

"What is wrong you ask? Despite the fact that we would be surrounded by dirty-blooded muggles, and peasants at that. Why, I don't see what is wrong," Darien answered looking out the window.

"Beautiful isn't it," Henry said following his gaze, "What is wrong with muggles? We've been around them before."

"You forget my dear friend, that the muggles we've been around, or so you say, are as the same status as you and I. The muggles I am talking about are peasants, practically the same as savages those people," Darien told him.

"Well at least we won't be the only ones with magic," Henry said.

"What do you mean Henry?" Darien asked him.

"Did not your uncle tell you?" Henry asked, when he saw Darien's confused face the continued, "Your cousin will be there. I think it is the fat one, um, Hermia I presume."

"Do not insult my cousin, you are not in any position to do that," Darien said angrily.

"I am sorry, I forgot that she is like a sister to you," Henry said, "But can you not remember how the girl chased us around trying to be part of everything we did. You of course let her. When was the last time you have seen the girl?"

"The same as yourself," Darien answered.

"She couldn't have changed very much, could she?" Henry asked.

"I don't know," Darien replied. They did not talk after that.

******

"Reynold, get your cloak we will be late," Gwenivere told her brother.

"Why do we have to greet them anyway?" Reynold asked his sister, "It is only Lord Salazar's nephew.

"Reynold, listen to yourself. He is Lord Salazar's nephew, he will be in charge of the happenings here," Gwenivere answered him.

"I have found it," Reynold said. Then he grabbed his sister's hand and they walked to the manor house. They saw a woman with bushy brown hair. She had a terrific figure. When the woman saw Gwenivere she waved. The woman walked over to them. Gwenivere and her brother bowed down to her.

"How are you and your family Gwenivere?" She asked them.

"We are fine Lady Hermia," Gwenivere answered.

"Lady Hermia," Reynold started.

"Yes? Reynold isn't it?" Hermia replied.

"Yes my lady, I would like to say you look beautiful today," Reynold said.

"Thank you," Hermia replied. After that Reynold blushed. Hermia looked at him questionably.

"Well, I have to go. Take care you two," Hermia said and left. After she was far from hearing range Gwenivere started laughing.

"You should stop laughing, Gwenivere. It is not very lady like," Reynold said.

Then Reynold felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned he saw his brother Charles smiling at him.

"Gwenivere, go ahead laugh, get it out of your system," He told his sister, who was trying to control her laughter. People were beginning to stare.

"You know brother, I saw everything," Charles said. Reynolds ears turned pink, "You aim to high Reynold. I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I am only being realistic. You cannot have her, she is a noble."

Reynold didn't say anything, he sadly watched Hermia talking. They saw a carriage coming. When it stopped two men came outside, one with black hair and the other with blonde. The two men were conversing with each other. When the man with silver hair saw Hermia he smiled. Then Hermia saw the man, and she ran to him.

"Darien!" She said happily. Then she launched herself to him. The man, Darien, spun her around about three times and then he gave her a proper hug. Darien pulled back to look at her. He moved a strand of hair from her face.

"Is that you Hermia?" He asked. She hugged him again.

"You remember me," She said against his chest. She pulled back and looked at Henry.

"You," She said at Henry.

"Me?" Henry said.

"I remember you, you were horrible to me when we were children. Darien, I cannot believe you are friends with this… this person," Hermia said. She didn't let Henry say the last word, because she grabbed Darien's hand and pulled him to the workers.

"Everybody, I would like to introduce Darien Slytherin," Hermia said, "And his companion Henry Gryffindor."

"Good-morning everybody. I would like to say that I am your new master. I practically own everything here. You are working for me, in this manor. What ever I say you will do, you have no other choice, do you hear me?" Darien said. Everybody said yes sir.

"Also you will address me as Lord Darien I will not address you otherwise," Darien said.

Gwenivere was beginning to hate the man. He talked as if he owned them.

"He is just like his uncle," Reynold whispered to Charles.

"You!" Darien said to Reynold, "What was so important you had to interrupt me?"

"Nothing my Lord."

"Nothing? Make sure that it does not happen again," Darien said, "You are all dismissed, you can go back to your homes."

At this all the people turned to leave. Darien turned to Hermia.

"Who was that person?" He asked her.

"That was Reynold, their family has been working here for ages. I did not like your speech very much," Hermia said.

"Why is that?" Darien asked.

"You sounded as if you ran a… a… I don't know," Hermia said.

"Who was that girl next to Reynold?" Henry asked. Hermia looked at him suspiciously.

"That was Gwenivere, the only daughter of Auctor. She is the youngest out of seven and the only girl," Hermia said.

"Auctor Williams?" Darien asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Hermia said.

"He is a muggle is he not?" Darien asked.

"Yes he is. I warn you Darien not to talk of magic around here. Someone might overhear," Hermia warned him.

"She is beautiful. Gwenivere, that is a beautiful name," Henry said.

Darien and Hermia turned to him.

"Yes?" Henry asked them.

"Do not tell me that you just said that some peasant girl was beautiful," Darien said with spite in his voice, "Henry, I warn you. Do not do anything to dirty your blood."

Darien turned and walked towards the manor building with his cloak billowing behind him. Hermia looked at Darien surprised. He has changed so much. How can he talk about muggles like that, she asked herself. Salazar Slytherin was truly a horrid person to change Darien so much.

A/N: So what do you guys think? Was it good, bad, confusing? Well why don't you review to tell me. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to say them. Also, I'm still not sure who to pair Hermione up with, but most of the people are asking for Harry/Hermione. I'm not sure how to make that pairing. Again, if you have suggestions please make them

(1) The Synonym for Malfoy thing came from wmlaw's fanfic Wildest Dreams IV

Next chapter: Hermione talks to her aunt, and Ginny writes Draco the letter.


	8. Chapter 6: A Few Surprises

Disclaimer: All characters except Linda, Landon and Sophia Dupre, Bru and Tracy all belong to Mrs. Rowlings and her many publishers. Linda and the rest of the characters are figments of my imagination.

A/N: Thank you for my reviewers: Elenya, slytherineyz11 (yes, I am Filipino), centaur30, Chocolate Muse, meg, fishy, chyna, Cham

Chapter 6: 

When the portrait closed Hermione immediately started running down the stair. She turned a corner someone grabbed her and covered her mouth. Hermione struggled to get away; she bit the person's hand. She tasted blood. She kicked the person and punched him on the face. The person was pushed to the wall because of the force of the punch. When Hermione saw who the person was, she immediately rushed to his side.

"Oh my gosh Draco. I'm so sorry," Hermione said.

Draco was sitting on the floor nursing his eye.

"Hermione, before you start attacking people you should see who they are," Draco said, "Why, I could have been a teacher."

"I'm so sorry, let me see your eye," Hermione said, bending down to see him better. She moved his hand and saw the beginning of a black eye.

"Maybe, I shouldn't have shown you how to throw a decent punch if I knew you would punch me," Draco commented. Hermione touched his eye and he hissed in pain.

"I'm sorry Draco, I was going…" Hermione started.

"To see your aunt," Draco finished for her, "Help me up."

Hermione pulled Draco up.

"Thank you, let's go to her room in the teacher's hall," Draco said holding her hand and started walking.

"I don't know where it is," Hermione told him.

"Well I do. Whenever I needed help with potions I would go to Professor Snape's quarters. He was always glad to help me. Couldn't have a Gryffindor have the best grades in Potions now could we?" Draco said.

"No we can't," Hermione answered. After walking for about five minutes, they finally reached the teacher's hallway. They walked until they saw Linda Shaw written on one of the doors. Hermione knocked on the door two times, it opened, and a smiling Linda greeted them.

"What a pleasant surprise. Come in, I see you brought Darien with you," Linda said.

"My name is Draco," Draco said to the woman while scowling.

"Oh, yes, I forgot. I can't call you Darien in my class now could I?" Linda said laughing, "Why don't you two have a seat over there (she pointed to a couch)."

Hermione and Draco sat down. They were a bit uncomfortable because they were so close.

"So what brings you two here?" Linda asked.

"Aunt Linda, why didn't you tell us you were going to be the new DADA teacher?" Hermione asked.

"I wanted to surprise you guys," Linda said happily.

"Some surprise," Draco muttered. Hermione elbowed him lightly on the stomach, and Linda scowled at him.

"Why exactly are you here Linda?" Draco asked.

"Draco, be polite," Hermione, whispered to him.

"Hermione, it is okay. I'm not blind not to notice that your _friend_ doesn't like me," Linda said, "Why I'm hurt, everybody is supposed to like me. So, have you two figured out who Gwenivere is?"

"Yes, Ginny Weasley," Draco answered.

"Draco, I have a question," Hermione told him.

"Okay, ask away," Draco, said.

"What happened on the train with you and Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Draco said.

"What did you do to her Draco?" Linda asked.

"Why does everybody assume that I did something to the girl?" Draco asked.

"Draco," Hermione said, taking his hand and squeezing it.

"In case you want to know _Linda,_ I didn't do anything to the girl. Why she's the one that did something to me," Draco said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"What do I mean? Why, I'm the one who tried to be nice to the girl and she insulted me. Can you believe that?" Draco said.

"What did she say to you?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly what I told you she would say to me. Actually she didn't really say anything, but it was the same thing." Draco said.

"Did you two have some sort of fight?" Linda asked.

"Kind of," Draco answered.

"Well say sorry to her," Linda told him.

"Me? Why should I be the one apologizing?" Draco said.

"Aunt Linda, Draco, calm down," Hermione said.

"I don't know if I can even have a relationship with that girl," Draco said.

"You will have a relationship with Ginny Weasley whether you like it or not," Linda told him.

"Do I even have a say in this?" Draco asked angrily.

"Not really," Linda said truthfully, "Draco I'm sorry I know that this is hard."

"You don't know anything," Draco said standing up. Hermione tried to grab his hand but he pulled away. "You're practically forcing me to her. What do you want me to do next huh, marry her?"

"Draco, I think we need to talk alone," Linda said, "Hermione please go back to your common room."

"But Aunt Linda," Hermione protested. When she saw the look that her aunt was giving her, she said good-bye to Draco and left. After Hermione, left Linda turned to Draco.

"Draco, I know I'm not exactly your favorite person, but I need you to know the exact reason I'm doing this," Linda said.

"Go ahead," Draco said.

"I need to introduce you to someone," Linda said. She motioned him to follow her. She went into her bedroom, and opened what looked like a secret passageway. When they went inside, Draco saw a dark room. There was a seat in front of the dying fire in the fireplace, and a woman was seated in front of it.

"Linda is that you?" The woman asked.

Linda bowed and answered yes my lady.

"Who did you bring with you?" The woman asked.

"My Lady, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I think that Darien should meet you. He is not being very cooperative," Linda said. At that the woman laughed.

"Come closer, Darien. I am old and I am afraid I cannot see very well," The woman told Draco. Linda silently told Draco to go to her. Draco looked at her doubtfully but complied. He figured that she was an important person if Linda bowed down to her. When Draco got in front of the lady, he bowed keeping his head down. The woman laughed.

"There is no need for that Darien, get up and look at me," She told him. When Draco looked at the woman, he was surprised.

"How... Are you?" Draco asked.

"You recognize me?" The woman asked.

"Yes, but how. I'm sorry but this may sound rude, but how are you alive. I mean you must be old," Draco said.

"Yes, I am old. Come closer, I want to see your face," The woman told Draco. Draco stepped closer to her. The woman started crying when she saw Draco. Draco didn't know what came over him when he went to comfort the woman by hugging her gently. She cried on his shoulder. Linda seeing what was happening decided to leave them so that they will have privacy. The woman moved back to look at his face. She touched his face to see if it was real. When her palm was on his cheek, he put his hand over hers.

"You look very much like Darien," the woman said.

"How did this happen?" He asked her.

"It is a curse Darien. It is a curse that will affect me until you and Gwenivere fall in love again and are finally together," She answered him.

"I am sorry that it took so long," Draco told her, "What would happen if I don't succeed in your goal?"

She looked at him sadly, "I will have to wait again until the next pair. You are the first."

"You've been waiting all this time?" He asked her.

"Yes."

"How did you do this? Reincarnation?" Draco asked her.

"Before Gwenivere died, we worked together. I loved Darien like a brother and he in turn loved me as a sister. The things that have happened to him devastated me. His death had a toll on Gwenivere. They loved each other very much. Things happened that should not have happened. You know that people could not be brought back to life, even through magic. I did the next thing to bringing back people to life; bring them back during a different time, through different people. This involved very old magic, I think I have done something wrong in the process, this is my curse. I have watched all my loved ones die before me. I have seen so many things, good and bad. I have lived a long time, and I am tired. All I want now is to see you with Gwenivere and to finally have the rest I have been longing for."

"Have you been helping Linda?" Draco asked her.

"Yes, I oversee what Linda is doing, as I have done through the centuries with her ancestors," The woman answered.

"I am sorry if I have not been cooperating lately, if I had known sooner maybe I could have done something to help you," Draco told her.

"I can see what you are going through. I understand that you have lost your family this summer (Draco nodded), you have also fallen for my heir is that true? (Draco nodded again) I am sorry," The woman said.

"I understand that I can't be with Hermione, no one will approve. She was my first real friend, I guess I misunderstood it for something else," Draco said.

"I have heard that my heir returned your feelings, is that true?" The woman asked. Draco nodded.

"It is nothing now. Hermione and I talked about it this summer. We are just friends now. She is like a sister to me," Draco said.

"Is that why you are not in a good relation with Linda? She separated you from my heir," the woman asked. Draco nodded again.

"I am sorry if I have change your life drastically," the woman said.

"There is nothing to be sorry about," Draco said. The woman saw the scar on his face. She traced it with her finger. When she did this Draco felt like something was going through his head.

"Your father gave you this," She said.

"You can read minds?" Draco asked. The woman smiled.

"You have lived a harsh life," The woman said.

"If you are not having nightmares you are having dreams about your past life?" she asked him. Draco nodded again.

"I am in no position to tell you this, but Gwenivere could help ease your pain as she did for Darien," She told him.

"How can you be so sure?" Draco asked her.

"I have been watching you two. She is starting to see you as a different person, she is starting to have feelings for you," The woman told him.

"She feels nothing but pity for me," Draco said angrily. The woman looked at him sadly.

"Give her a chance to see the person that you are hiding from everyone, give her a chance to see the change in you," the woman said. Linda came in.

"My lady, I am sorry to interrupt but it is getting late. You need your rest," Linda told her. The woman nodded at Linda.

"Remember, what I have said Darien. Please give her a chance," The woman told him. Draco was ushered away from the woman. When Linda closed the passage, she faced Draco.

"How is everything?" Linda asked.

"Confusing," Draco answered, "Why can't I just tell Ginny about this?"

"You can't Draco," Linda said, "If you tell her, she might feel forced to fall for you. Things might be slower if you do that."

Draco nodded.

"Has she been alive _that_ long?" He asked. Linda answered a yes.

"She deserves rest. I am sorry if I have not cooperated earlier." Draco told her.

"Apology accepted," Linda said smiling, "It is getting late, you should get some rest. Classes start tomorrow."

Draco said goodnight to her and left.

_*_*_*_*_*_

When Hermione went inside the Gryffindor common room, she was surprised to see someone still awake.

"Harry?" 

"Hello, Hermione," Harry said.

"What are you doing still up?" She asked him.

"I couldn't sleep, what about you. You didn't really go to see McGonagall did you?" Harry asked her. Hermione sat down next to Harry on the couch.

"No, not really. I went to see a friend that I made during the summer," Hermione said.

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Harry it is getting late. I'm going up, are you?" Hermione asked.

"Go ahead Hermione, I'm just going to stay here a little while," Harry answered. Hermione said good night to Harry and left him. Harry watched her walk up the stairs until she was out of sight. Then he sighed; he took the poker and moved the logs in the fireplace. He stared at the fire in deep thought. He fell asleep on the couch. Hermione came back down to the common room and saw Harry asleep; she covered him with the blanket she brought. Then she kissed him on the cheek.

"Sweet dreams Harry," She whispered, and then she walked up the stairs to her room.

*_*_*_*_*_

Draco was eating porridge when Professor McGonagall passed out the schedules. Draco scanned his schedule and saw that he had an extra class. It said that it was in the Headmaster's office. Draco looked at it confused, and then he remembered he asked Dumbledore if he could have training for his _powers_. After he got his schedule, a large barn owl dropped a bag and a letter in front of him. He saw that it was addressed to him so he opened the letter first

__

Draco,

I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to make you mad. I was just was wrong to judge you through what everybody said. Please forgive me for offending you. I hope that maybe we could start over again. Meet me outside in the front entrance after breakfast.

Ginny

Draco looked around the Great Hall for Ginny. It wasn't hard since her auburn hair stood out in the crowd. When he caught her eye, he nodded. He left the Great Hall. When Ginny saw this, she told her brother and Hermione that she forgot something in her room. She told them that she will go straight to class and she left.

Ginny practically ran to the front entrance, when she spotted Draco leaning casually against the wall she slowed. She was in front of him.

"Couldn't wait to see me, huh, Ginny?" Draco said.

"Draco, I wanted to apologize about yesterday," Ginny said.

"Why would you want to do that?" Draco asked her.

"I… um…" Ginny didn't know what to say. Draco just looked at her. Ginny stared at his Prefect badge, Draco looked to see what she was staring at and saw that she was looking at the badge.

"Thank you for clapping for me yesterday," Draco said, trying to start a conversation.

"Oh yeah. You deserve it," Ginny said.

"Do you really think that?" Draco asked.

"Yes of course, you said you worked hard didn't you?" Ginny said.

"You believed me?" Draco asked.

"Why? Do you have reason to lie to me?"

"No. Ginny why exactly do you want to see me here?" Draco asked.

"I wanted to ask you if we could start over again," Ginny said.

"Start over what?" Draco asked.

"Um, start over again. Introduce ourselves. Have a new start," Ginny tried to explain.

"Why would you want to do that?" Draco asked. Ginny was getting annoyed. Why was he asking so many questions, she asked herself.

"I was wondering if we could be friends," Ginny said.

"Friends? Why would you want to be friends with me? Didn't you say that your brothers practically tell you to stay away from me?" Draco asked.

"Well, yes, but you are different from what everybody is saying. I want to show all those people that you're not such a bad guy," Ginny answered.

"Well if you want to show people that I'm not such a bad guy you are just wasting your time," Draco said. Wait a minute, Draco thought. Why am I pushing her away?

Ginny walked up to him and took his right hand to look at it. When she saw the scars on the palm of his hands she gasped. She traced them with her thumb.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked.

Ginny looked at him in the eye. She almost got lost in his gray eyes.

"Everybody says that the eyes are the window to the person's soul, but they're wrong. The hands are the window to the person's soul," Ginny whispered, Draco barely heard her.

"Where did you get that?" He asked her.

"Um, I saw a muggle movie that said that," Ginny answered.

"Movie?" Draco pretended to be confused and was doing a good job. Ginny laughed when she saw his face.

"I'm sorry," She said letting go of his hand.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Draco told her.

Ginny looked at him in the eye again. He held out his hand, and Ginny looked at it questionably.

"I decided to take up your offer to be a friend," Draco explained to her. Ginny smiled and shook his hand. Maybe this girl isn't so bad after all, Draco thought.

"I have to go Draco, I have DADA next. I don't want to be late for my first class," Ginny told him.

"You do?" Draco asked

"Yes, why?" Ginny said.

"I have DADA next," Draco said.

"That can't be." Ginny said, "Let me see your schedule." Draco gave Ginny his schedule and she looked at it. She found out that he did have DADA at the same time as him.

"They must have made a mistake," Ginny said.

Then Draco remembered that Linda was the DADA teacher this year. She must have something to do with this, he thought.

"Maybe not," Draco said, "Come, let's go there together. Here, let me hold your books."

Ginny looked at him surprised but complied. The walked down the halls together; when some students saw them, they started whispering 'is that a Weasley with a Malfoy?'

When they finally reached the DADA classroom, Ginny knocked on the door. When they heard an enter, they opened the door and went inside. Linda was surprised to see Draco.

"What brings you two here this early?" Linda asked, "You two still have ten minutes before class starts."

"Um, Professor Shaw. I think that they made a mistake with Draco's schedule," Ginny said gesturing over to Draco, "I'm a fourth year and Draco is a fifth year. His schedule says that we have this class at the same time."

"No, there is no mistake. You have this class with the Ravenclaw fourth class as usual Ms…" Linda said, asking for her name.

"Weasley, Ginny Weasley," Ginny answered

"Ms. Weasley. All fourth year classes will team up with fifth year classes this year. Along with the Slytherin Fifth year, the Gryffindor fifth year will join you. This is required for the projects that I will be assigning this year," Linda told them.

"Oh, Isn't it going to be a big class. Do we have enough room?" Ginny asked. When she looked around the room, she noticed that somehow it has gotten bigger.

"It looks like the room has been enlarged Ginny," Draco told her, walking next to her.

"Why don't you two have a seat while you wait for class to start," Linda told them. Ginny sat down in the front, Draco was going to sit in the back, but Ginny held him back.

"Draco can you sit next to me?" Ginny asked.

"You seem to forget Ginny, your brother has this class with us. Won't he get mad that you're sitting with a 'stinky Slytherin' was it?" Draco asked.

"You heard him yesterday?"

"Yes, it wasn't hard not to when he was yelling as loud as a banshee," Draco answered.

"Well, I don't care what my brother says. You're my friend and I want to show you off to everyone," Ginny said pointedly.

"You don't care what your brother says? Are you going through some rebellion stage Ms. Weasley?" Draco asked jokingly as he sat down on the seat next to her.

"Well, my brothers are a bit overprotective. I'm the youngest and only girl so they tend to get a bit overboard," Ginny answered.

"Ginny I have to tell you something," Draco said, "Just because you are friend with Potter and his sidekicks doesn't mean I will be friend with them."

"I know," Ginny asked.

"Don't expect me to _nice_ around your friends just because I'm nice to you," Draco said.

"Why are you nice to me and not anyone else?" Ginny asked.

"Because you're different from everyone else," Draco answered. Draco was now looking at Ginny eye to eye. Ginny saw in his eyes that he was not lying; either that or he was a good actor. She was going to ask him what he meant, but Colin Creevy walked in the room.

"Hello Ginny," Colin said walking towards her. He was completely ignoring Draco. "What is Malfoy doing next to you?" he exclaimed when he finally saw him.

Ginny smiled, "Colin I would like you to meet my friend, Draco. Draco, Colin."

"You're friends with Malfoy?" Colin asked.

"Draco," Ginny corrected him. Colin looked at her, and then he walked towards her and pulled her away from Draco.

"Ginny what do you think you're doing?" Colin whispered to her.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, knowing exactly what he meant.

Colin gestured to the now smirking Draco.

"Oh, as I said before he's my friend," Ginny said.

"Ginny drop the charade."

"Colin, I'm not acting or joking."

"You can't be serious Ginny, this is Malfoy you're talking about," Colin pleaded with her, "What do you see in him anyway."

"Draco is a nice guy when he wants to be," Ginny answered. Colin laughed at her.

"Malfoy, nice guy? Ginny what have you eaten, are you sick?" Colin asked he tried to touch her forehead to see if she was hot, but Ginny slapped his hand away.

"Colin, I'm serious," Ginny pleaded with him. When Colin looked at her, he saw that she was.

"Ginny whatever you're planning, be careful. I don't want you to get hurt. You're one of my best friends," Colin told her. Ginny suddenly looked happy and hugged Colin. When she released him, Colin told her not to blame him if her _friend_ ends up in the hospital wing, because of her brothers or if he hurts her.

"I don't think that he will do anything to me. Besides, I know how to defend myself. Don't worry about Draco. I'll protect him from my brothers," Ginny said. At this, Colin guffawed.

"Good luck, Ginny. You're going to need it," Colin said, patting her on the back. Then he sat on the seat behind the one Draco was sitting in. Ginny went back to her seat next to Draco; just after she did that, the bell rang. Colin got his camera ready.

"Oh, I can't wait to see the look on your brother's face when he sees you next to Malfoy," Colin said.

"What will your brother do if I do this?" Draco asked putting his arm around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry am I making you uncomfortable, Ginny?" Draco asked.

"No, but why are you doing this?" She asked him.

"Scoot closer to me," Draco said, Ginny complied, "Let's play around a little. Why don't we let your brother think we are more than friends? Let's have a little fun."

Ginny looked at him shocked, "What do you mean?" 

Many people were coming through the door. When Draco saw her brother, he brought his face down to hers. Ginny at first was shocked when his lips touched hers. Draco cupped her cheek with one of his hands. Draco kissed her gently not wanting to scare her anymore than he already was. Ginny kissed him back timidly. Colin on the other hand was taking pictures of the couple. Ron stopped talking when he saw two people kissing in front of the room.

"Look at that Hermione," Ron said pointing to the couple, "Boy, I can't wait for the teacher to stop those two. I can't believe they couldn't wait until the end of class. People these days."

"Is that Ginny?" Harry asked. Hermione looked at the couple closer.

"Oh my Goodness, that's Malfoy kissing her," Hermione said. 

Then she immediately covered her mouth after she said that. She looked over to Ron who looked like he could kill. Then they saw a flash. Colin Creevy was taking pictures of Ron. Ron suddenly screamed and launched himself at Draco. When Draco saw that her brother was going to jump on him, he ended his kiss. Ginny looked flushed and her cheeks were rosy. Draco stood up and walked away from her. She looked confused until she saw her brother jump on Draco and started fighting with him. Ron was on top of Draco. Draco pushed Ron off him, and stood up to continue their fight. They were stopped after Linda said Petrificus Totalus, which caused a full Body-Bind. Harry and Hermione rushed to Ron, while Ginny went to Draco. Hermione took the bind of Ron and Harry held Ron back. Ginny took the bind of Draco

"First kiss huh Ginny?" Draco said. Ginny blushed at this.

"Creevy I want a copy of every picture you took," Draco told the smiling Colin.

"After you two have compose yourselves, take your seats and I won't take away any points," Linda said. Ginny took Draco's hand and returned to their seats. Ron started walking towards Ginny, but Hermione held him back.

"Now is not the time for this Ron," Hermione whispered in his ear. She practically dragged him to a seat in the back of the room.

"I would like to introduce myself. My name is Linda Shaw and I will be your DADA teacher this year. You will address me as Professor Shaw in my class. As some have you have noticed, this year I have combined the fourth years and fifth years," Linda said, "This year I will put you in groups of three, two fifth years and one fourth year in each group. I will assign the groups (at this everybody groaned). You will work with this group for the rest of the year. You will do everything in my class together, including homework and projects, so learn to stand each other. Are there any questions?" 

Nobody raised his or her hands.

"Okay, I will tell you your partners' names. After I have finished announcing the names get together," Linda took out a piece of parchment, "Okay, Virginia Weasley you are paired with Hermione Granger and…Draco Malfoy." Ron jumped up at this.

"Professor, could you pair my sister with somebody else," Ron asked Linda. He did not like the idea of Malfoy being around his sister.

"I'm sorry Mr. Weasley. I myself spent hours trying to get everybody in-groups. I don't see what is wrong with Ms. Granger," Linda said knowing that he was referring to Draco, "My decisions are final, the next group is…"

When Linda finished announcing the groups, everybody went to the people in their group. Hermione walked over to Draco and Ginny. When Draco saw Hermione, he smirked.

"Well, well if it isn't Mudblood Granger," Draco said. Hermione frowned, she could not get mad at Draco. She herself told him to act as if they still hated each other; Draco was just doing what she asked him.

"Why good-morning ferret," Hermione said copying his smirk; something she picked up from him during the summer. Ginny elbowed Draco and whispered to him to be nice to Hermione. Hermione overheard Ginny.

"The time when ferret-boy starts being _nice_ to me is the time when pigs fly," Hermione said sitting down next to Ginny.

"Ginny what was that I saw you doing with Malfoy in the beginning of class?" Hermione asked Ginny. Ginny blushed and said that it was nothing.

"It didn't look like nothing," Hermione said.

"What jealous, Granger?"

"You wish," Hermione retorted, "I feel sorry for you Ginny, what do you see in him anyway?"

"I'll tell you later Hermione," Ginny said. Linda tried to get everybody's attention.

"Is everybody in their groups?" Linda asked, "I understand that you studied the three unforgettable curses. I would like to review those curses and a few other illegal curses. Now for house point, if you correctly answer my questions, you get one house point. Answer wrong there is no penalty."

"The first question, can anyone name one of the unforgivable curses?" Linda asked. It went on like that until she had one final question.

"Can anyone tell me exactly how many people have survived the killing curse?" Linda asked.

Neville Longbottom raised his hand, "Professor, only one person has ever survived the killing curse, Harry Potter."

"Mister Longbottom, I'm afraid that you are wrong." Linda said, "Anyone else want to try to answer?"

A Ravenclaw stood up, "Professor I believe that you are wrong, only one person has survived the killing curse." Several people said yes, only one person has survived the killing curse.

"Mister Longbottom, you may have been correct if you answered the same question last July. Recently there has been another survivor of the killing curse," Linda informed the class. The class started whispering to each other, wondering who the other person was.

"I cannot tell you his name for safety reason, but if you ask the Headmaster, he will tell you that another person besides Harry Potter has survived the curse," Linda said. The children of the Death Eaters all looked at Draco. They found out what happened through their fathers. Hermione looked at Draco, Draco told her about what happened at the initiation ceremony. Hermione also knew that Draco hated talking about it. Then the bell rang.

"Well, class is dismissed. There is no homework today," Linda said. The students all left quickly the only people left were Draco and Ginny. Ginny saw that Draco was thinking about something.

__

"I will never call you master."

"Very well."

"AVADA KEDAVRA" Voldemort yelled.

"Draco, are you all right?" Ginny asked. Draco finally got back to reality and answered yes to Ginny.

"I'm fine Ginny, come on, I'll walk you to your next class." Draco said.

"I don't have a class until after lunch," Ginny said, "Do you have a class Draco?"

"Yeah," Draco answered, "Where are you going?"

"I guess I'll go back to the Gryffindor common room," Ginny said.

"I'll walk you there," Draco said.

"You know where the Gryffindor common room is?" Ginny asked.

"Of course I do, but I've never been in it. It isn't exactly a secret you know," Draco told her. He offered her his hand and she took it. Together they walked to the common room. When they reached, the common room Draco turned to her.

"Well, I guess I'll see you again during lunch," Draco said.

"Okay," Ginny said. Draco turned to leave.

"Wait," Ginny told him. Draco turned to face her.

"What was that kiss?" Ginny asked.

"Kiss? Oh yeah, sorry about that, but you had to admit that the look on your brother's face was priceless," Draco answered. Draco missed the hurt look on Ginny's face.

"Oh. Well, I'll see you later," Ginny said.

Draco nodded; she turned and said the password to the fat-lady. She went inside and closed the portrait. Draco turned and started walking towards Dumbledore's office. He said the password that was written on his schedule and he walked up the stairs to the office. Draco knocked on the door.

"Enter," He heard, so he opened the door.

"Good-morning Draco," Dumbledore greeted him. Draco said good-morning to Dumbledore.

"You will not be alone during this class, I would like you to meet another person that will be joining you," Dumbledore told him.

There was a boy sitting on the chair facing Dumbledore's table. When the boy turned to Draco, they were both shocked.

"Oh my gosh, don't tell me I have to work with him," the boy said.

Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled. This is going to be a long school year Draco thought.

A/N: So, what do you guys think? Was it confusing? I wasn't planning on revealing the identity of the mysterious lady, but my plans changed. Did you guys figure out who she was? The part where Ginny says that the hand is the window to the soul came from the movie Great Expectations.

Next chapter: We find out whom Draco has to train with.


	9. Chapter 7: Business Deals

Disclaimer: Hogwarts and All the characters except Linda belongs to JK Rowlings.

A/N: Thank you to the people that reviewed: Angel-Hiragizawa32, Elenya, Malfoy-fan8888, Beccs, Crystal

Chapter 7: Business Deals

Draco was sitting in the library reading some of the textbooks that Dumbledore assigned to him. He was to read the first five chapters and understand the contents. It was quiet in the library since it was still early. While he was reading he remembered the events that occurred yesterday, especially the one that happened in the Headmaster's Office.

__

"You?" the boy asked.

Draco did not answer.

"Good-morning Malfoy," the boy said trying to sound brave.

"Good-morning to you too, Longbottom," Draco greeted him, "Look, Longbottom, since we're going to work together, do you want to have a truce? I would want to be fighting with you during the entire school year. I'm also sorry about the things that I've said about you."

Draco put out his hand. Neville looked at it cautiously, but then he shook it.

"There is another person that will join you boys, but I'm afraid he is running late," Dumbledore told them.

Then the door burst open and a boy ran in. When he saw Draco standing there, he looked shocked. Draco looked equally shocked; the boy standing before him was the one and only Harry Potter.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"The same reason you're here Potter, to train," Draco said with malice in his voice.

"Professor, are you sure it is safe to teach him? What if he uses the power against us? For all we know he is a Death Eater," Harry said matching the malice in Draco's voice.

"What did you call me Potter," Draco asked.

"Didn't you hear me the first time, Death Eater?" Harry said.

"Take that back," Draco said.

"Why should I? I'm saying the truth, aren't I? Is that why you're so mad? Do you expect me to think otherwise, after all the things you've said about them? You practically worshipped the ground those…those murderers walked on," Harry answered with spite.

"Guys I don't think that this is the right time to argue," Neville told them.

Harry chooses to ignore Neville. Draco clenched his fist, it took all his willpower not to go over there and attack Harry.

"What? Cat got your tongue Malfoy?" Harry asked when Draco did not say anything.

When Draco did not reply, Harry was surprised, he expected Draco to lash back at him. Draco surprised Harry even more when he calmly walked passed him and sat down on a chair in front of the Headmaster's desk. The rest of the session was not very eventful. Draco and Harry did not say anything to each other at all. They mostly listened to the Headmaster talk, and sometime they would ask him questions. In the end, the Headmaster gave them textbooks to read.

Draco shook his head at the memory. Then he started reading again. Suddenly he felt a pair of lips kiss him on the cheek. He didn't have to look to figure out who that was.

"Good morning Hermione," Draco greeted her.

Hermione took a seat next to him.

"Good Morning Draco. How did you know that it was me?" Hermione asked.

"Your hair smells like vanilla," Draco answered, still reading the book.

"For all you knew, I could have been Pansy," Hermione told him.

"Pansy would never come to the library at this time. She's probably sleeping still. Who else would come here at (Draco looked at his watch) six o'clock in the morning?" Draco asked her.

"Well, it could have been some Ravenclaw," Hermione answered back.

"Name one Ravenclaw that would have the guts to kiss me?" Draco asked, still reading his book.

"You do have a point. What's that book you're reading?" Hermione asked.

Draco finally put the book aside and looked at her.

"Oh, it's a book the Headmaster assigned to read," Draco answered, "Hermione, about the things I said to you yesterday. The mudblood stuff, I didn't mean it."

Hermione reached to put her hand over his. When she did this, Draco looked up at her.

"Don't worry about it Draco. I know that you didn't mean all those stuff. I was a little hurt, but I know that it's all my fault. I did ask you to pretend like nothing has happened between us," Hermione assured him, "I have to ask you something about Ginny."

"What about her?" Draco asked.

"What was that kiss during DADA?" Hermione asked.

"What kiss?" Draco looked confused, and then it hit him, "Oh that kiss. What about it?"

"I'm sure that you guys are not in the girlfriend-boyfriend stage, so why exactly did you kiss her?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, I just wanted to have a little fun. You have to admit, the look on Weasley's face was priceless," Draco said.

Then Hermione kicked him under the table.

"What was that for?" Draco asked massaging the place on his leg where she kicked him.

"I hope that you're referring to Ron," Hermione said, "Draco, you don't kiss girls just for _fun_."

"You didn't seem to mind it when I did that to you," Draco replied with a smirk on his face.

Hermione blushed and kicked him again.

"We're not talking about me," Hermione said.

"You know, you're lucky that you're such a good friend of mine, or else I would have retaliated," Draco said sarcastically.

"Draco, that was her first kiss," Hermione told him.

"Really?" Draco asked seriously, seeing that she was serious about this.

"Yes, a girl's first kiss is supposed to be special. When I stayed at her house one summer, we were talking about first kisses. She said that she wanted her first kiss to be with someone special. She wanted her first kiss to be something that she will always remember. It was supposed to be with Ha…" She stopped talking. She was wishing that Draco didn't catch what she was about to say.

"Finish what you were saying Hermione," Draco asked angrily, Hermione didn't answer, "You were about to say Potter, weren't you? She wanted her first kiss to be with Scar-face didn't she?"

Hermione could see that Draco was getting mad. Everybody knew how much those two despised each other. Draco once told her that he envied Harry. Harry was everything he couldn't be. Harry always beat him in Quidditch, Harry was the good guy and Draco was the bad guy. The thing that Draco envied the most was that Harry was surrounded by friends and that he was always happy. Hermione looked at Draco; he has been silent for awhile.

"Draco?" Hermione asked.

"Why did you come here Hermione? Did you come here to tell me that I ruined something for her? You know if you told me that she didn't like the kiss, I would have accepted that. Why did you have to compare me to _him_?" Draco was practically yelling at her.

"Draco, I'm sorry. I was not comparing you to anyone, especially not Harry. I just wanted to say that you shouldn't do anything spontaneously. Don't move to fast, you're going to scare her," Hermione said.

Draco was silent again. Hermione went over to him and gave him a hug.

"Draco? I said I was sorry. Come on, say you forgive me," Hermione said on his chest, "I know you want to."

"Fine, I forgive you. You should go back to your seat, someone might see us," Draco said. Hermione feigned hurt.

"You don't want to anyone to see us together?" she asked.

Draco just smiled at her. Then Hermione went back to her seat.

"You know you should smile to Ginny more often," Hermione said.

"Anymore tips on how to win the weaslette's heart?" Draco asked.

"Well, you could ask to accompany her on the Hogsmeade visit," Hermione answered, "Don't call her names Draco."

"I don't think that the girl will mind," Draco told her, "It will probably motivate her on operation show-everybody-that-Draco-is-a-nice-guy-and-be-his-friend. Where did she come up with that anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Hermione answered, "You probably did something that affected her during her encounter with you on the train."

"What else can I do?" Draco asked.

"I don't know, do something romantic or whatever," Hermione answered.

"Romantic? How about lunch by the lake?" Draco asked.

"That would be nice, but…" Hermione said.

"But what?" Draco asked her.

"Wouldn't Ginny get suspicious if you ask her out of the blue?" Hermione told him.

"I could just tell her that I don't like the noise in Great Hall, and I don't want to eat alone," Draco told her.

"Why her?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, I'll make up some reason along the way," Draco said.

"Okay, you walk her to class don't you?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Draco answered, "I have some other plans."

"What are they?" Hermione asked.

"I could show her some places around the school," Draco answered.

"Places around the school?" Hermione asked curiously.

"You know places, like…um…" Draco tried to think of something, "Never mind that idea. What about star gazing?"

"That's pretty good. How about…" Hermione started but Draco interrupted her.

"You have to go. I just saw Potter and the sidekick walk in the library, probably looking for you," Draco told her. Hermione said good-bye and told him that she would owl him. Then Hermione left him. Draco looked at his watch and saw that it was already seven o'clock. Draco gathered up his books, put them in his bag, and then he left the library.

Just as he turned a corner, he bumped into someone. The person fell in front of him.

"Hello Ginny. I knew that you would eventually fall for me, but I didn't know that it would happen so soon," Draco told her.

Ginny glared at him. Draco helped her up and he picked up her books that she dropped.

"Thank you Draco," She told him.

She tried to get her books from him, but he told her that he would carry it for her.

"Where are you going Ginny?" Draco asked her.

"I was going to the Great Hall for breakfast," Ginny answered.

"I'll walk with you if you don't mind," Draco said.

"I don't mind," Ginny told him.

Together they walked to the Great Hall. When they entered together people started whispering: 'is that Malfoy and a Weasley?' 'Did you hear what they did during DADA?' Draco didn't mind what the other people were saying about them. He walked with Ginny toward the Gryffindor table. He pulled out a chair for her in front of her brothers, Harry and Hermione.

"Thank you," Ginny told him.

Ron was agape. Then they saw a flash. When Draco looked to see where it came from, he saw another flash. Colin Creevy was taking pictures of the scene.

"Don't you go anywhere without that camera Creevy?" Draco asked him.

Then Draco pulled the seat next to Ginny and sat down. Everybody in the Gryffindor table seemed to protest when he did that. Ginny looked surprised when he sat down next to her.

"Is something the matter Ginny?" Draco asked her.

"Um… beside the fact that you're sitting in the Gryffindor table, no," Ginny answered.

"Do you want me to leave?" Draco asked her.

Everybody in the table seems to nod. Then there was another flash.

"Colin will you put that bloody camera away?" Ginny asked getting annoyed.

At that Colin immediately stopped taking pictures and followed her orders. He knew better that to mess with a Weasley. He learned the hard way that a mad Weasley equals a dangerous and scary person. Draco laughed when he saw this, everybody in the table turned to look at him, shocked. Did they just see Malfoy laugh? He didn't even harm anyone. Then Ginny turned to Draco.

"No, I don't want you to leave Draco. I'm actually glad that you're sitting here," Ginny told him. Everybody stared at her.

"Ginny, you can't do that, that's against the rules," Ron said.

"Really? I never knew that, I thought that Dumbledore supported inter-house relations," Ginny told him calmly, "Draco do you want some bacon?"

"Yes, please," Draco answered playing along with her.

Ginny took the plate with the bacon and passed it to him. Draco politely said thank you as he took it from her. Everybody watched them with shock, wondering what exactly those two were playing at. Hermione watched the scene with amusement.

"Hermione, do something," Ron pleaded with her.

"What do you want me to do Ron? Ginny does have a point, Malfoy is not breaking any rules," Hermione told him.

"Are you siding with them?" Ron asked her.

"I'm not siding with anyone, I'm just stating the facts. Come on Ron don't ruin the day. Just leave Malfoy alone. If he insults you or does anything to provoke you, I give you my approval to go and attack the Ferret, until then please Ron, just leave it," Hermione told him.

Ron seemed to follow her advice, probably because he did not want to make her mad. Ron remembered all the times he had fought with Hermione. All those times they didn't talk for how many days. When that happened he felt like he lost some part of him. He did not know how to explain it. He finally figured out how he felt about Hermione during their fourth year. One day he was watching Krum and Hermione walking side by side along the lake and she seemed so happy. He was sadden by the thought that she was never like that around him, he felt a pang of jealously as he watched them. Ever since that moment, he knew that he could never think of Hermione just as a friend. He wanted to be more than just a friend to her; he wanted to make her happy just like Krum did somehow.

"Ron, are you all right?" Ginny asked him.

"Oh. Yes, I'm all right. I was just thinking about something," Ron answered.

"Really? You were thinking. I didn't know that you were capable of doing that Weasley," Draco taunted Ron.

Ginny kicked Draco under the table. Unfortunately, she kicked the same spot that Hermione kicked early that morning. Draco immediately started to comfort his leg. He was thinking about how big his bruise has gotten.

"What is wrong with you people? Why does everybody seem to want to play kick Draco-on-the-leg-and-see-him-wince-in-pain? Because right now I seriously doubt that I can walk," Draco told her.

"What are you talking about Draco? Did somebody else kick you?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Yes, just this morning in the library…" Draco started but stopped after Hermione kicked him.

Draco glared at her.

"What's wrong with you Malfoy?" Hermione asked trying to look innocent.

Ginny looked confused even more. What was going on between Hermione and Draco? Just then, Fred started talking.

"Are you guys playing a game, I want to join too," Fred said.

Then George tapped Fred on the shoulder. He showed Fred a letter and then they started conversing quietly. After they seemed to reach an agreement, they turned to Draco.

"Hey, Malfoy. We need to talk to you," Fred told him.

"What about?" Draco asked.

"Just business," George said as he dragged Draco up and pulled him outside.

When they got out of the Great Hall, Draco struggled away from George.

"Let go of me Weasley. I'll follow you," Draco said.

George let go of Draco and told him to follow him. Fred was right behind them. After they got inside an empty classroom, Fred closed the door and put a silencing spell around the room. Then George took out the letter he just showed Fred and held it in front of Draco.

"What's this about Malfoy," George asked him.

"Did you read it? It's a business proposal. I heard that you guys wanted to start your own joke-shop," Draco told them.

"How did you find out about that? And why would you want to help us in the first place?" Fred asked.

"I heard about it from someone. I just want to do some good from the bottom of my heart," Draco said.

"Really? Do you expect us to believe that there's no catch?" George asked not believing what Draco just said.

"Okay, there is a catch," Draco said.

"That's what we thought," Fred said.

Then Fred got then on his knees and started bowing down towards Draco. 

"All hail King Ferret," Fred was chanting, "Do you need anything?"

Then still on his knees Fred went over to Draco and starting kissing the hems of his robe.

"What do you think that you're doing?" Draco asked getting away from him, "Get up, get up. That's not the catch. There is something else that I need."

Fred got up and straightened his robes.

"You should have said so," Fred said, "What do you need Draco?"

"I need help with your sister," Draco answered.

Fred and George were surprised and they did nothing to hide that.

"You need help with little Gin-Gin?" George asked, "Do you fancy our little sister."

Draco thought about what he was going to say next. He hated lying, but he couldn't say no. He knew that eventually he would have to fall for her; he figured that out after thinking about his situation. He couldn't have the twins thinking that he was only using Ginny. Draco tried to fake a blush and actually succeeded. Fred and George's eyes bulged.

"Yes…Yes, I fancy Ginny," Draco said.

"Are you shagging her?" Fred asked.

"WHAT!" Draco asked, "Where did you get that idea. She doesn't even know my feelings about her."

"Good, just wanted to make sure," Fred said.

"If you were, you do know that we would have to kill you," George added.

"Yup, but first we would have to torture you," Fred added.

"Yeah, your insides will become your outsides," George said.

"Yeah, while we do that we will have a smile on our face enjoying every moment," Fred said, "Oh yeah, after we're done I'm sure our other brothers will have to deal with you also."

"How did you people end up in Gryffindor?" Draco asked.

"What exactly do you want with Ginny?" Fred asked.

"I would like to court her," Draco answered, "But not just yet, right now I just need your support. Tell the sidekick to lay off."

"That we can do," George said, "Is that all?"

"Can you guys tell me how to get Ginny to return my feelings?" Draco asked them.

"Okay, we can try," Fred answered.

"How exactly can you help us?" George asked.

"I have connections in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. If you want to start a business in one of those locations, I can help you. I can get a building and help with advertising. I could also provide you with all the things you need. The thing that you need to make new jokes and if you need some money I can provide you with that," Draco told them.

"You would help us with all of that, if we help you with Ginny?" Fred asked seriously.

"Yes," Draco answered.

Fred and George got together and started discussing about what to do. Then Fred turned to Draco.

"Okay, we have a deal," Fred said.

Then Draco and Fred shook hands.

"Okay, so is this it?" George asked.

"Yeah, if you want. I can start helping you now," Draco told them.

"Thank you, we would appreciate it," Fred said, "We have to go now, classes are about to start."

"Wait, can you keep this a secret," Draco asked them.

"Sure," George said.

"Call me your mysterious benefactor. Make up some name to refer to me as," Draco said.

"Any name?" Fred asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Fine," Draco said.

Fred and George left the room discussing what name they were going to call him.

'What about Malferret?' 'No too obvious.' Draco heard them say as they were walking. Draco stood in the classroom for awhile contemplating about what just happened. He hoped that his plans would work out. Then he looked at his watch; he had only three minutes to get to class. Draco wished that someone took his books with him or her, his class was in the other side of the castle. Draco started running, when he turned a corner he bumped into somebody.

"We need to stop meeting like this," Ginny said sitting on the floor.

Draco muttered an apology and helped her up. He also picked up her books for her.

"Thank you, I brought your books with me," Ginny said.

She gave him the books.

"What are you doing walking in the hallway, classes are about to start," Draco asked.

"I was looking for you," Ginny answered.

"What class do you have next?" Draco asked.

"History of Magic," Ginny answered.

"I'll walk you there," Draco told her.

"Won't you get late for your class?" Ginny asked.

"I have potions next. I don't think that Snape would care if I walked in late," Draco told her.

With one arm around her books, he took her hand with his other hand. Ginny was surprised when he did this. She didn't know how to explain it, but she actually enjoyed being near Draco. They walked towards the classroom in silence. Draco was starting to feel uncomfortable at the silence.

"Ginny?" Draco asked.

"Yes?"

"I was thinking about eating lunch by the lake, I don't want to eat at the Great Hall. I was wondering if you would like to join me," Draco asked.

"I don't know," Ginny answered.

"Oh," Draco said.

Ginny looked at Draco when he said this. He sounded a bit disappointed that she didn't say yes. When they reached, the door to the classroom Ginny turned to Draco.

"Yes, I would like to have lunch with you," Ginny answered.

Draco smiled at this.

"You know, you should smile more often. You look handsome when you do," Ginny told him. She blushed when she said that. Draco smirked at her.

"Thank you, so, meet me by the lake at lunch time," Draco told her.

Ginny nodded. After he handed her, her books Ginny quickly kissed him on the cheek and then she opened the door to the classroom and went inside. Draco stared at the door in front of him. He can feel heat radiating around the spot that she kissed. It felt different from the kiss Hermione gave him. He shook his head; he didn't want to think anymore about it. Looked at his watch, he was already late for potions. Slowly he walked toward the dungeons. When he reached the room, he opened the door.

"I'm sorry I'm late Professor," Draco told Professor Snape.

"It's okay, just take a seat. I'm sure that there is a good reason as to why you are late," Snape told him.

Harry whispered to Ron, "That's not fair, stupid git."

"Did you say something Mr. _Potter_?" Snape asked him.

"Nothing sir," Harry answered.

"I believe that Potter insulted you sir," Draco told Snape.

"Thank you Mr. Malfoy. Take your seat," Snape told him.

Draco nodded and took his seat next to Pansy. Everybody was surprised when Snape did not take any points.

"Oh, yes and ten points from Gryffindor," Snape added.

The Gryffindors groaned it was too good to be true. The potions class resumed as normal. Neville melted a cauldron, Snape took off more points from Gryffindor, and Hermione tried to help her friends but was caught. Finally, after a few hours the class ended, it was lunchtime. Draco immediately started walking towards the kitchen. After he tickled the pear on the portrait leading to the kitchen, he entered. He was immediately greeted by elves. He recognized one of his old house elves Dodie or something like that.

"Good-afternoon Master Draco sir, how can Dobby help you sir?" Dobby asked.

Dobby was his name Draco thought.

"Dobby I was thinking about having lunch by the lake. I was wondering if you could give me some food," Draco told him.

"Yes sir Master Draco sir," Dobby told him.

The house elves started preparing the food for Draco. When they were finished, they gave him a picnic basket and a blanket.

"Thank you Dobby," Draco told him.

"It is no problem Master Draco sir. Dobby like helping Master Draco," Dobby told him.

"Thank you again," Draco told him.

"Please visit Dobby again Master Draco sir," Dobby told him.

Draco nodded, and then he started walking to the lake. When he reached it, he put laid the blanket along the floor. Then he sat down; he looked inside the basket to see what was inside. When he looked up he saw Ginny running towards him. 

"I'm sorry I'm late," Ginny told him.

"It's okay, I just got here, do you want to eat?" He asked smiling at her.

She smiled back and nodded.

A/N: So, what do you guys think? Again, Draco and Hermione have a brother and sister relationship, but I hinted that something happened between them during the summer. I will not go into detail what happened. I put Neville in the story because I think that he is an under-appreciated character. With training, he can become something great.

Next Chapter: Draco and Ginny's lunch by the lake. Probably another Darien and Gwenivere dream sequence.


	10. Chapter 8: I Love You

Disclaimer: All the characters except Linda belong to JK Rowlings, Hogwarts belongs to her too.

A/N: Thank you to everyone that reviewed, Crystal, rachelbabycake, cosmoz, blazefury, fishy, Elenya, Beccs, brown-sugar. 

Chapter 8: I love you

"It's okay, I just got here, do you want to eat?" He asked smiling at her.

She smiled back and nodded.

*-*-*-*-*

Ginny sat down on the blanket across from Draco.

"We have a lot of food. Probably what they're having in the Great Hall right now," Draco said looking inside the basket.

Ginny watched him, and she looked across the lake. It looks beautiful she thought. When Draco looked up and saw her looking at him, he smiled.

"Is something the matter?" Draco asked her.

"Why did you invite me here Draco?" Ginny asked him.

"I didn't want to be alone."

"Why me?"

"I don't know, I couldn't ask anybody else, I'm not really popular in the Slytherin house at this moment." 

"You just asked me because I was there?" Ginny asked feeling a little hurt.

Draco did not know what to say.

Ginny thought that maybe he asked her because he felt something for her. She shook her head; Draco didn't like her. He's only around her because she won't stop bugging him, she thought. Her thoughts drifted to their kiss yesterday. She remembered what he told her before he kissed her.

"Let's play around a little. Why don't we let your brother think we are more than friends? Let's have a little fun."

Suddenly Ginny didn't feel comfortable sitting near him.

"Ginny, are you okay?" Draco asked.

Ginny looked at him. She wanted to get away get away from him. She couldn't think of anything to say.

"I…I have to go," Ginny said.

She got up and ran towards the castle. Draco watched her shocked, he wanted to run to her and stop her, but he couldn't. His legs didn't seem to move. He replayed what happened in his mind. He hit his head with his hand.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he said to his-self after each hit.

He should have said something else to her. What was I thinking, he thought. He looked back at the basket of food. He suddenly wanted to hurl it across the lake, so he did. He watched the giant squid come up and go down with the basket. Draco gathered up the blanket. When he turned around to walk toward the castle, he felt something hard hit the back of his head. When he turned around, he saw the basket on the ground in front of him. He looked at the lake and saw bubbles going to the surface. He scowled and picked up the basket and started walking back towards the castle.

*-*-*-*-*-

Ginny didn't turn around to see Draco's reaction. She didn't stop running until she got to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Dear, why in the hurry? Isn't it still lunch time?" The fat lady asked her.

"Malificent," Ginny said, she did not want to talk to anybody right now.

The fat lady frowned but she opened the passageway to the Gryffindor common room. Ginny ran up the stairs leading to the girl's dormitory. When she reached fourth year room, she opened the door and when she got inside, she locked it. She hoped that her roommates did not forget anything. She went to her bed and put her face on her pillow and she screamed. She was frustrated, what was she thinking trying to be friends with Draco Malfoy? She didn't know how long she was in her bed. Suddenly she heard a tapping at the window. When she looked at what was tapping on the window, she was surprised. It was Draco. She just stared at him; she did not want to talk to him right now.

"Ginny, please open the window," Draco said, "I'm losing my grip, please open it."

"Go away Draco!"

"Ginny, please, we have to talk," Draco pleaded with her.

Ginny walked over to the window and pushed it open. Unfortunately for Draco, she hit his nose, and he did lose his grip on the windowsill. He also most fell but he was able to grab the windowsill again.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry," Ginny said.

She helped him get inside the room. When Draco did finally get in her room, he fell to his knees. Draco reached in his back pocket and got out a handkerchief. He pressed it to his broken nose that was bleeding. Ginny bent down to face him.

"I'm sorry Draco. Here, let me see it," Ginny said.

Draco removed the handkerchief to let her see his nose. Ginny took out her wand and pointed it to his nose. She muttered a spell and his nose stopped bleeding.

"Thank you," Draco told her.

Draco looked at her face; Ginny feeling uncomfortable in his gaze got up and closed the window.

"How did you get here Draco?" Ginny asked.

"I climbed the vine to your window," Draco answered.

"What vine? There's no vine out there."

"Oh… well, there's one now," Draco answered.

"Why didn't you just fly here? And how did you know where my room is?" Ginny asked.

"I asked someone. I didn't fly because I thought that climbing up would be more romantic."

Ginny sat on her bed.

"Romantic?" Ginny asked.

Draco sat next to her.

"Yes, romantic. Ginny, I want to say sorry about the lunch," Draco said, "And…"

Draco didn't care what Hermione would say now. He remembered his goal, to make Ginny love him. He didn't care what he had to do to accomplish that goal. When he turned to look at Ginny, he caught her eye. He was mesmerized with her eyes. He couldn't look away.

"I love you," Draco said.

Ginny looked shocked, so was Draco. That was not what he was going to say. Draco didn't know where that came from.

"Wha…What did you say?"

Draco opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Ginny would have thought that it was a funny sight, but she couldn't believe what Draco just said. Draco Malfoy just told her that he loved her.

"Did you just say that you loved me?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," Draco answered.

Draco didn't know why he said he loved her, but he decided not to deny it.

"Please Ginny, give me a chance," Draco asked.

"Draco," Ginny said.

Draco took her hand in his.

"Is that why… why you're being nice to me?" Ginny asked.

Ginny remembered what he told her during their DADA class

"Why are you nice to me, and not anyone else?" Ginny asked.

"Because you're different from everyone else," Draco answered.

Did he love her even then, she thought. Draco thought about what he was going to say next. If he would say no, then everything that he said would mean nothing to her. He decided to take his chances and say yes.

"Yes," Draco answered.

"Draco, I don't know what to…" Ginny started but she was cut off when Draco brought down his face to her.

Again, Ginny was surprised when he kissed her, but she kissed him back. It was different from the kiss at the DADA classroom. Ginny thought that it was probably because Draco was not "playing around." Draco was feeling guilty lying to her like this. Draco decided to put some feeling in the kiss. He ruined her first kiss; he wanted this to be special for her. Before they both knew it, Draco was on top of Ginny on her bed. Her hands were buried in his hair. Draco was losing himself to her so he decided to end the kiss. Ginny moaned when he did this. When she moaned her eyes widened. Draco laughed at her.

"Don't laugh at me," Ginny said blushing.

Draco's forehead was now touching hers.

"You look cute when you're flushed after I kiss you."

Ginny tried to push him off her, but she failed, he was too heavy. Draco rolled off her and was now next to her on her bed. Ginny went on her side to face him. Draco was also on his side. Draco pushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"Draco?" Ginny whispered.

"Yes?" Draco whispered back.

"Did you mean everything that you said?" Ginny asked.

She was hoping that he would say yes. If he were to say no, she would just forget about her plan to show everybody Draco is a good guy. She could never look at him in the eye ever again if he said no.

Draco looked at her in the eye.

"Yes," Draco answered.

Ginny looked at his eyes and saw that he was sincere. She hugged him. If Ginny had looked longer, she would have seen a sign guilt in his eyes. Draco wrapped his arms around her.

"Okay, I'll give you a chance," Ginny murmured against is chest.

Draco pulled away a little to look at her and he smiled.

"Really?" Draco asked

Ginny smiled and nodded.

"What would your brothers do if they find out about us?" Draco asked.

"Why? Do you want to hide this from everyone?" Ginny asked him.

"No, of course not."

"Good," Ginny said.

She hugged him again. Draco stroked her hair. They didn't know how long they were together, just holding each other. They heard a knocking on the door.

"Ginny, are you all right? You didn't come to lunch, Ron and I were worried about you," a voice said.

Draco and Ginny broke apart.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, open up Ginny," Hermione said.

Draco got up and opened the door.

"Do you want something Granger?" Draco asked.

Hermione stared at him in shock. Ron who was next to Hermione was also shocked.

"Draco," Ginny said pulling him in the room, "Hermione come in, Ron you too."

Hermione pulled the speechless Ron inside the room and closed the door. She put a silencing spell around the room.

"Ginny what is the meaning of this?" Hermione asked.

Before Ginny could answer, Ron pushed Draco up against the wall. He was holding him up by his robes.

"What did you do to my sister Malfoy?" Ron asked.

Draco smirked and said, "Nothing that she didn't want."

"Why you…" Ron said and he brought up his hand to punch Draco, but Draco ducked and Ron hit the wall. Hermione pulled Ron away from Draco.

"Ron leave him alone, we have to talk civilly," Hermione told him.

"Ginny what is Malfoy doing in your room?" Hermione asked.

"We were talking. What's wrong with that?" Ginny asked her.

"Why talk in your room?" Ron asked.

"Well… I was alone at first, but Draco was outside the window," Ginny answered.

"What was Malfoy doing outside the window?" Hermione asked.

"I ran away from our lunch by the lake, Draco followed me," Ginny answered

"You were having lunch with…with _him_?" Ron asked.

"Yes she was, what's wrong with that Weasley?" Draco asked.

"Ginny what is wrong with you?" Ron asked, "Did he do something to you? Is he blackmailing you?"

"Ron for the last time, no. Draco did not do anything to me. I'm doing this out of my free will. What's wrong with spending time with my boyfriend?" Ginny asked.

For the second time today Ron thought that he was going to pass out. First he finds Malfoy in his sister's room, and then he finds out that Malfoy is his sister's boyfriend.

"What did you say? Wait till mom hears about this," Ron said.

"Mom wouldn't care, I'll write to her first," Ginny said.

Ron walked over to Ginny and shook her.

"Ginny wake up!" Ron yelled at her, "Do you know what you're doing? This is Malfoy!"

"Yes I know Ron," Ginny told him.

"Ginny he'll hurt you, he's just playing with you," Ron told her.

"Please Ron, I can protect myself. He's not playing with me; Draco said he loves me and he was sincere. I saw it," Ginny told him.

Hermione and Ron were surprised by the news.

"Ginny," Ron said.

"Ron, please try to accept us," Ginny asked him.

Ron hugged Ginny.

"I'm worried about you Ginny. Fine, I'll accept it but you have to write mum a letter," Ron said.

"Thank you Ron," Ginny said hugging him tighter.

"Ginny, please let go I can't breathe," Ron told her.

Ginny laughed, went over to Draco, hugged him and she let go. She looked so happy, Draco thought.

"Classes are about to start. We have ten minutes," Hermione told them.

"Ginny, I have to get my books," Draco told her.

"Okay," Ginny told him, "You don't have to walk me to class today."

"How do you get out of here?"

"Come with me," Ginny told him grabbing his hand and pulled him down the stairs to the common room.

When Draco saw the common room, he thought that he might be blinded. The room was full of red and gold. Red couches, red curtains, red everything.

"Your common room is smaller than the Slytherin's," Draco told her.

"It is? Do you like it?" Ginny asked him.

"Yes, it looks nice in here. It has a comforting feeling about it," Draco told her.

When they reached the portrait hole they stopped walking, and they faced each other.

"So, what now?" Ginny asked.

"I'll meet you at Hagrid's hut after your class," Draco told her.

"You don't have to walk me to my classes," Ginny told him.

Draco lifted her chin so that she would look at him.

"I want to," Draco told her, "I'll see you later okay."

Ginny nodded, then Draco gave her a quick kiss on the lips, he opened the portrait hole and left. Ginny stared at the closed portrait and touched her lips.

*-*-*-*-*-

Draco walked in his room. He sat on his bed and hugged his knees.

"What did I just do?" Draco asked himself.

Draco was thankful that Lucius got him his own room. Being part of the board of governors had its advantages. Dumbledore let him keep his room thinking that it would be better for him being away from the other Slytherins, preferably the sons and daughters of the Death Eaters.

"How could I tell her I love her?" He asked himself.

****

-Flashback-

Draco and Hermione were sitting on a bench in the park behind her house. It was night outside and the stars were shining brightly.

"Draco?" Hermione asked.

"Yes?" Draco asked her.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"Hermione, think back to when you first met me. Do you think that I'm the kind of person that would love? Let alone believe in love at first sight," Draco told her.

"Well…" Hermione started.

"What is love in the first place?"

"Love is a feeling. It's something shared between two people…"

"Love is just a thing people refer to when they're confused," Draco interrupted.

"No it's not. When you say those three words it means…" Hermione started.

"It means nothing," Draco interrupted again, "Those three words mean nothing. I could tell you that I love you and for all you know I hate you."

"That's not true. Love is something more than that. Love is something special," Hermione told him.

"Really? Well then, how would I know what love is if I never been loved?" Draco asked.

"That's not true. Everybody has somebody that loves them, what about your parents?" Hermione asked.

"My parents?" Draco asked standing up, "My mother probably loved me, but she could never show it. When she does, it's usually for a short time, and then she turns emotionless. That makes me wonder if she even feels anything for me. My father, maybe he loved me. But in his own twisted demonic way."

"Draco," Hermione said.

Draco turned to face her.

"I don't know what it's like to be loved. I've never felt it before, so how can I know what it is or how to return it?" Draco asked her.

Hermione lifted his chin so that he would look at her.

"I can show you," Hermione told him.

"You didn't show me Hermione. You didn't show me anything," Draco said angrily.

Draco got his books and walked to his class.

*-*-*-*-*-*-

Ginny was sitting in the Great Hall for dinner. She was across from her three brothers.

"So, Ginny. We heard about you and Malfoy," Fred said.

"Yes, we heard so many things about you and that big bad Slytherin, tut tut," George said.

"Tell us, what exactly were you two doing in your room?" Fred asked winking at her.

"For the last time, we were just talking," Ginny asked, "What's wrong with talking to my boyfriend?"

"Your boyfriend," George asked.

"Yes, my boyfriend. I'm happy, so please don't say anything. He told me he loved me," Ginny told them.

"Really?" Fred asked.

Ginny nodded.

"Well then…CONGRATULATIONS!" Fred and George said blowing horns and throwing confetti in the air.

"What?" Ron and Ginny asked confused.

"It's about time that Mal-ferret told you his feelings," Fred said.

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked.

"Well you see baby sister, the git came to us yesterday," George said.

"Yup, he asked us if he can quote quote court you," Fred said.

"You should have been there Gin, it was hilarious seeing him try to tell us how he felt for you," Fred said, "The git actually blushed when we found out that he liked you."

"Can you believe it Gin? Malfoy blushing and he was so nervous too," George added.

"What did you do to him?" Ginny asked them.

"We didn't do anything to him," Fred said.

Ginny looked at him incredulously.

"So, does that mean he really does love me?" Ginny asked.

"I'm afraid so," George told her.

*-*-*-*-*

"How could you do that?" Hermione asked Draco.

They were inside the empty DADA classroom. Draco asked Linda if he and Hermione could use it and she agreed.

"I don't know," Draco answered.

"Well, do you love her?" Hermione asked.

"What do you think?" Draco answered.

"So that's a no isn't it?" Hermione stated, "For a person who doesn't believe in love, it's kind of hard to actually think he is in love. Why did you tell her you loved her? What were your exact words."

"I don't know why I told her I loved her. It just came out of my mouth. I said I love you," Draco told Hermione.

"That was a wrong move Draco," Hermione told him.

"Do you think that I meant for this to happen?" Draco asked, "I feel guilty for deceiving the girl."

"What exactly do you feel for Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"Do you want to know the truth," Draco told her.

"The truth would be good," Hermione said.

"I feel nothing for her," Draco said, "Absolutely nothing. The only reason _I'm being nice to her_ is because you and your insane Aunt are forcing me."

"You better hope that Ginny never hears what you just said," Hermione told him.

"She'll never find out unless you or I tell her," Draco told her.

Unknown to the two of them a pair of eyes were watching them, and the person heard everything they said.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Well, here comes lover boy now," Ron said.

Ginny turned around and saw Draco walking towards her. When he saw her he smiled, and Ginny smiled back. When Draco reached her he took the seat next to her.

"So, what did I miss?" Draco asked her.

"Nothing, did you ask my brothers permission to date me?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, why? It's only proper to do so," Draco told her.

"Well, it's old fashioned," Ginny told him.

"Oh," Draco just said.

Hermione came in the Great Hall and sat between Ron and Harry.

"So what did Professor Shaw say?" Ron asked Hermione.

"What? Oh yes, I just asked for a lesson plan. I asked her what we were going to do this term," Hermione answered.

Draco looked at Hermione.

"Do you want something Malfoy?" Hermione asked him.

"No, nothing at all Granger," Draco answered.

The rest of the dinner was not very eventful. The twins offered Draco some candy, but to their dismay, he declined. Draco walked Ginny to the tower and kissed her on the forehead goodnight. When Ginny got into bed, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

**__**

-Dream Sequence-

It has been a month since Gwenivere first saw Darien get out of his carriage, and already she hated him. She thought that he was the rudest person she ever met. He constantly insulted her brother Reynold. He acted as if he owned everybody just because he owned the land they lived and worked on. One hot day her feelings started to change.

Everybody was exhausted, it was nearing harvest season and everybody was working hard. Even some of the elderly were working, one of these people were Lazarus. The man lost his only son in a war and he had only daughters that couldn't work. He was the only person fit to do farm work. In spending time in the heat, he collapsed. The overseer, Orius, saw this and walked towards Lazarus.

"Get up old man," Orius told Lazarus.

Lazarus tried to get up but was not able. Orius was about to strike him but Darien came and grabbed his hand.

"What do you think that you are doing?" Darien asked Orius.

Orius bowed down to Darien, "My lord, this man stopped working. I was only trying to get him up."

"How can he work in his condition?" Darien asked Orius.

Darien bent down to Lazarus.

"My lord," Lazarus told Darien.

Darien felt Lazarus' forehead. Lazarus was hot, burning with a fever.

"Get me some water," Darien ordered Orius.

"But my lord."

"Are you questioning my order?" Darien asked Orius.

"No my lord."

"Then go, get drinking water," Darien repeated.

"Yes, my lord," Orius said leaving.

"Lazarus, why are you working? You have a fever," Darien asked him.

"My lord, I am the only person fit to work. I have daughters that are still young," Lazarus told him, "I have to work to have food on the table."

Darien looked at him feeling pity for the man. Orius came back with the water. Darien helped Lazarus drink the water.

"You will go to your house and rest. I will come to check on you everyday," Darien told him.

"My lord, I need to work," Lazarus told him.

"You are working for food?" Darien asked Lazarus.

"Yes my lord," Lazarus answered.

"Send your daughters to the manor, I will give them food there for your family," Darien told him.

"My lord, thank you," Lazarus said crying.

Darien helped Lazarus to his house. When he came back to the field, Gwenivere approached him.

"Thank you my lord," Gwenivere told Darien.

"Whatever for?" Darien asked Gwenivere.

"For helping Lazarus, Lord Darien," Gwenivere told him.

"Tell the rest of the workers, if they do not have enough food for their families to come to the manor. Food will be provided for them there," Darien told her and then left.

Gwenivere watched him walk away. Maybe he is different after all, Gwenivere thought.

A/N: Please don't hate me for this chapter. Draco just met Ginny he cannot fall in love with her after just one day. Many things will happen before he will actually find out that he does love her. Who is the person that was watching Draco and Hermione? You'll find out much later on in the story. I hope that it's not too confusing so far. To clear some things, the scene with Hermione and Draco was a flashback. Hermione and Draco did like each other **during the summer**, but things changed. Linda put a stop to their relationship because Draco has a role as Darien. Now they are just good friends. There is nothing between them now.

Next chapter: Stargazing and Quidditch.

**** __


	11. Chapter 9: The Month After

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Linda and the mysterious Lady; everything else belongs to JK Rowlings.

A/N: Thank to all my wonderful reviewers. I kind of expected people to comment on Draco's behavior, but don't fret, of course Draco is going to fall in love with Ginny, but not just yet. For those of you that were not able to read the author's not in the previous chapter, I just want to say that Hermione does not like Draco; she did during the summer though, but not anymore.

Chapter 9: The Month After

It has been a month since Draco and Ginny started going out together. They were the most talked about couple in the school. Nobody would ever have thought that a Malfoy would fall for a Weasley. Draco's declaration of love to Ginny was no secret. Everybody knew that he loved Ginny and he showed it, but they didn't know that it was an act. Draco did feel guilty for lying to Ginny, but he tried to make up for it. He did have feeling for her, but after just knowing her for a month, he thought of her just as a friend. He hoped that some day that it would be more than that, it had to be more than that. Some days when he is with Ginny he would watch her and think about what she feels for him.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Ginny asked him.

They were sitting in front of the lake watching the sunset. They did this every now and then, if they had time. Ginny would sit between his legs and Draco would hold her. Together they would watch the sun go down and they would not go back in the castle until it was dark.

"Yes it is," Draco said, but he was not referring to the sun.

Ginny leaned back against Draco. When she did this he smelled her hair, it smelt like strawberries. He fingered her hair, Ginny didn't mind since he would do this a lot.

"Draco?" Ginny said.

"Yes?"

"You said you loved me didn't you?" She asked.

"Yes, I said that," Draco said. It wasn't a lie; he did tell her that he loved her, but only once. He said that to her that day in her room, but he never said it to her again.

"Why?" She asked him.

"I don't know," he said truthfully.

"Oh," was the only thing Ginny could say.

Ginny looked up at him and saw him smiling at her. His smile was something that she loved. She thought that he looks handsome when he smiles. He only smiled for her, she never saw him smile at anyone else. That was something that made the other girls jealous. Lavender Brown once told her that she was lucky to have Malfoy as a boyfriend. He was rich and handsome and one of the most sought after boys in the school. Overall, Draco was everything a girl wanted, but couldn't have. Everybody thought that he was an annoying git and he was hated, but when they saw him with Ginny he was different somehow.

Draco kissed her on the forehead.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Yes, I was just thinking," Ginny told him.

"A sickle for your thought," Draco told her.

"I was just thinking how lucky I was to have you," Ginny said hugging him.

Draco's heart broke at this. Draco held her tight.

"I don't deserve you," he whispered in her hair. Ginny did not hear him.

"Hullo, Ginny, Malfoy," Hagrid greeted them.

Ginny and Draco broke apart. Ginny settled on his lap.

"Good evening Hagrid," Ginny greeted him.

"Nice, isn't it," Hagrid said looking out the lake.

"Yes, it is," Ginny said.

"Well, I'm headed for Dinner. What about you two?" Hagrid asked.

Ginny looked at Draco and said, "I'm getting hungry. Can we go?"

"Okay," Draco told her.

Ginny got up and helped Draco. Draco wrapped an arm around her waist and they started walking towards the Great Hall.

A lone figure was watching the couple in the shadows.

"You don't deserve her," the person said, "You don't deserve her."

*_*_*_*_*_*

"They're so cute, don't you think Ron?" Lavender Brown asked.

Ginny and Draco just walked in the Great Hall together; it was not an unusual sight. Draco was went everywhere his sister went. If he could not go he would send his goons Crabbe and Goyle to watch/escort Ginny. Ginny grew fond of these two. They were loyal to Draco. Unlike the popular belief that Crabbe and Goyle were a bit slow, they were able to pass every class. They were just the silent type.

Draco and Ginny sat in their usual seats, across from her brothers. Draco didn't mind this arrangement. He never talked to her brothers unless he was addressed.

An owl was flying in the Great Hall. This was unusual since all the mail usually comes during the morning. The owl circled around the Gryffindor table and then it dropped a letter in front of Draco. Draco looked at it wearily, it was a pink letter. Draco opened it and was surprised to see who the sender was. It was Tracy and Bru, Hermione's friends back home.

__

Draco and Hermione,

How are you guys? This is so cool. Do you know how many times we tried to write you guys a letter? Thirty times! Each time it was sent back to us. We finally went to Hermione's mom to ask her to deliver it to you somehow. She told us to us an owl. You don't know how surprised we were. Anyway, it went along great I hope you guys get this. If you did I wanted to know how you guys were. Please tell me you guys are still together. I don't want my matchmaking skills to go to waste. Do you know how hard I worked? (Draco scowled at this. Tracy was not his favorite person.) You two where so cute together. Anyway, just wanted to say hi. Write us back.

Trace and Bru

"Who is it from?" Ginny asked wondering why he was scowling.

"It delivered it to the wrong person," Draco told her folding the letter.

"Who is it for?" Ginny asked.

"Granger," Draco said giving Hermione the letter.

Hermione looked at him and took it from him. After Hermione read the letter she looked at Draco.

"Did you read this?" Hermione asked.

"What do you think I was doing with it for three minutes?" Draco asked.

"What is it Hermione?" Ron asked.

"It's nothing," Hermione said, folding the letter.

"Can I see it?" Ron asked.

"Ron, I said it was nothing," Hermione snapped at him.

Hermione didn't want to take the risk of anyone knowing about her and Draco. She burned the letter at the table. Everybody was surprised at her. She would write a letter to Tracy later, explaining that Draco and her did not work out. She saw Draco smiling at her.

"Didn't know that you had the gut to do that to your friend," Draco said.

Suddenly Draco got up from his seat.

"Ginny I have to go," Draco told her.

"Why?" Ginny asked, "You didn't eat yet."

"Something came up, I forgot about it," Draco told her, "I have to go. Your brother could probably walk you to the tower."

"Okay," Ginny said.

Draco gave her a quick kiss on the lips and then he left. Ginny stared at the door for a while. Then she looked back at the table. The burnt letter was gone. Ginny thought about what just happened. Did Draco just smile at Hermione? What was that letter? Ginny thought. Ginny looked at Hermione. Hermione never acted the way she just did, something was wrong.

*_*_*_*_*_*

"Madame Pomprey, I need help," Draco said walking in the hospital wing.

Draco was feelings a little tingling in his left arm when he was in the lake. It didn't hurt him so he didn't do anything. When he was in the Great Hall he felt a sharp pain, he left immediately.

"What can I help you with Mr. Malfoy?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"My arm. He's summoning," Draco told her.

Madame Pomprey's eyes widened. She told him to go in her office. Draco practically ran towards her. When Draco got in her office she closed the door and locked it.

"Pull up your sleeve," she told him.

Draco complied. When he did this they both saw the Dark Mark. It was glowing red. The thing that shocked them both the most was his scar over it. It opened and Draco was bleeding. Madame Pomprey started saying a spell to close the wound. When she was finished she cleaned it. The Dark Mark was still glowing. Madame Pomprey went in her cupboard and got out a potion.

"You will feel more pain. This will help lessen the pain," Madam Pomfrey told him.

After Draco drank the potion he felt a pain around is chest.

"My chest hurts," He told her.

"The potions takes time to work," Madam Pomfrey told him, "I need to give the Headmaster a note about this."

"I can give it to him, I can walk," Draco told her, "He's in the Great Hall right now."

Madame Pomprey looked at him doubtfully.

"I promise, I'll be fine," he tried to assure her.

Madame Pomprey wrote the note and gave it to Draco.

"After you give him this, I want you to come back," Madam Pomfrey told him.

Draco nodded and took the note from her. Then he started walking towards the Great Hall. Before he was able to open the door his vision blurred. Draco leaned against the wall and shook his head. After he got back his vision he opened the door and went inside. Everybody turned to look at him, when they saw who it was they turned back to their food. After he got half way to the teacher's table he heard a booming in his ears. As he was nearing the teacher's table the booming got louder. He was only a few feet away from the teacher's table before he could not take it anymore. Draco got down on his knees and covered his ears. In the corner of his eye he saw Ginny running towards him.

"A traitor dies a traitor's death," said a voice in his head.

Then Draco saw a green flash. He let out a scream before he fell on the ground, unconscious.

*_*_*_*_*_

Ginny was pushing her food around her plate.

"Miss him already Ginny?" Harry asked her.

"What? Oh, well, yes a little," Ginny said, "It feels weird to not have him around."

"You better eat something. Malfoy might get worried about you if you get sick," Harry told her, "You have to take a bite of something."

Ginny took a bit out of an apple. After she swallowed she turned to him.

"There, happy?" She asked him.

"Yes, very," Harry told her laughing, "Still thinking about the ferret?"

"Yes, don't call him names," Ginny told him.

Ginny started eating her food. It was different without Draco near. After she finished her food she was about to drink her pumpkin juice until the door opened. As usual everybody turned to look how it was, who would come this late into dinner. Ginny was surprised to see Draco; he said that he had to leave. Ginny saw that he was paler than usual. He looked troubled to her, something that she never saw. She watched Draco walked towards the teacher's table. She expected him to at least look at her, but he never did. He was walking strangely, like he was tired. It wasn't his usual I'm-a-Malfoy-so-get-out-of-my-way stride. Draco wasn't walking straight; he would veer off a little. Ginny got up. Then she saw Draco get down on his knees and cover his ears. Something was wrong with him. Ginny started walking faster towards him. Then Draco screamed and he fell towards the floor. Ginny then broke out at a full run. The headmaster and the teachers went to Draco. Ginny got to him first. She kneeled down in front of him.

"Draco?" Ginny asked.

Draco didn't do anything. Then Dumbledore came; he saw the letter that Draco dropped. He picked it up and read it.

"We have to bring him to the Hospital Wing," Dumbledore told Professor Snape.

Dumbledore handed him the letter. Professor Snape read the letter and nodded at Dumbledore. Dumbledore levitated Draco and started walking. Ginny immediately went to Draco's side and held one of his hands.

"Ms. Weasley?" Professor Snape asked.

"I want to go with him to the Hospital Wing. I want to make sure he's all right," Ginny told him.

Professor Snape looked like he was going to protest, but Dumbledore stopped him saying that it was fine. When they reached the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey came out with a sleeping potions expecting Draco. When she saw his unconscious state she put down the potion and immediately went over to him. She told the Headmaster to put Draco on a bed.

"I knew I should have kept him here. He said that he was fine, but that shows how much students today don't know what's going on with their bodies. I knew that when he came here that it needed medical attention," Madam Pomfrey said.

"Draco is sick?" Ginny asked.

"Ms Weasley! I didn't know that you were there," Madam Pomfrey said, finally seeing her next to Draco.

"Is Draco sick?" Ginny asked again.

Madam Pomfrey looked at Dumbledore for help. She didn't know what to tell the girl. She heard that Draco was dating Ginny. If Ginny didn't know what was wrong with him, then maybe he didn't tell her.

Ginny looked at Madam Pomfrey, then at Dumbledore. Why wasn't she saying anything?

"Ms. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy will be fine by tomorrow, but he will be tired," Madame Pomfrey told her. In reality Madam Pomfrey didn't know how long Draco would be unconscious.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ginny asked.

Since the rise of Voldemort two classes were added as electives. Medical Magic and History of Dark Arts. Medical Magic teaches healing spells and charms. History of Dark Arts goes into detail about the previous Dark Lords, their motives and also about dark spells. Ginny chose Medical Magic. She quickly became one of the best in the class.

"No, I'm afraid not," Madam Pomfrey told her.

"What can I do?" Ginny asked.

"I'm sorry Ms. Weasley, I don't think that there's anything that you could do. The only thing you could do is wait for his recovery," Madam Pomfrey said.

Then she closed the curtains around the bed and she started healing Draco. Ginny stared at the curtain.

"Ms. Weasley, I am sure that Mr. Malfoy will be fine," Dumbledore told her.

"I'm worried about him," Ginny said.

Then the door to the hospital wing opened. Harry and Neville came in.

"Is Draco all right?" Neville asked.

Neville and Draco call each other by their first names. As Draco got to know Neville better he found out that Neville is not as clumsy as he puts on. Neville just tries to hard. Neville found out that Draco was not as bad as he used to be. They became good friends since they worked together a lot in Dumbledore's class. Harry and Draco were still uncomfortable around each other.

"Ginny?" Neville asked, "Are you all right?"

Ginny looked troubled so Neville went over to her to hug her. Ginny returned the hug. She thought that Neville was a good friend. Then the curtain opened and Ginny went to Draco. Neville watched her practically run to Draco.

"He will be fine. All he needs his rest. He should be awake by tomorrow," Madam Pomfrey told her.

"Thank you," Ginny said.

Ginny got a chair and sat down next to Draco's bed. She took one of his hands and squeezed it. 

"Ginny will you be all right?" Harry asked her, "If you need Neville or me, we're just here."

"Harry, you and Neville can go. You don't have to wait for me," Ginny told them.

"Are you sure?" Neville asked.

Ginny smiled at them, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Do you want us to leave you with him?" Harry asked, "Give you privacy?"

"I…I don't know," Ginny said turning to Draco.

She pushed some hair out of his face. She asked him why he stopped slicking back his hair. Draco told her that a friend said that he looks better without the slicked hair. When Ginny asked him who was his friend he didn't answer. There were so many things that Ginny wanted to know about Draco. He would never talk about his past. Whenever he did there were so many holes that it was hard to figure out what happened. She wondered if he was ashamed about his past or if he wanted to hide it from her.

When Ginny turned to tell Harry that she wanted to be alone she found out that Harry and Neville already left. She looked at Madam Pomfrey's office and found it closed. She could see that Madam Pomfrey was talking to the Headmaster. Then Ginny turned to Draco. She traced his scar on his forehead with her finger. She told him that his father gave it to him, and that was all he said about it.

"Why are you so mysterious?" She asked him.

Draco of course didn't answer. Ginny started to talk to him. She felt like she could tell him anything. Ginny would tell him the most ridiculous things and he would laugh. She didn't care if he laughed. His laughter was another thing that she loved about him. He no longer laughed at the expense of others. When Draco would laugh his whole face would light up and Ginny thought that he looked handsome when he did. Ginny shook her head and laughed at herself. Ginny thought that he was handsome no matter what he was doing or wearing.

Ginny remembered her first real encounter with him on the Hogwarts Express. When she first saw him she almost didn't recognize him. He wasn't that short skinny rat faced boy that she remembered from the previous school year. She wondered how he could change so fast. Draco was no longer short, he shot up to an amazing six feet, almost as tall as her other brothers. The skinny boy developed some muscles during the summer, and she saw that when she saw his shirt opened. She remembered what her brothers used to call him that summer; it was either Malfoy the amazing bouncing ferret or rat face. How surprised she was when she saw him, his face was chiseled to perfection. He had a strong chin, his nose was straight and he had high cheekbones.

"Ms. Weasley?" Madam Pomfrey asked, "Why are you still here?"

"I wanted to stay with Draco," Ginny said.

"I'm sorry Ms. Weasley, but you have to go back to your dorm," Madam Pomfrey told her.

"Can I still a little while?" Ginny asked.

"I'm sorry Ms. Weasley I cannot make any exceptions. You have to leave," Madam Pomfrey told her.

Ginny was about to complain until Dumbledore came.

"Ms. Weasley, I think that it is best if you get rest. You still have classes tomorrow," Dumbledore said.

Ginny put her head down in defeat. Then she turned to Draco. She kissed him on the forehead.

"Good night Dragon," Ginny told him.

Then she turned and said good night to Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey. She walked to Gryffindor tower alone, unaware of the person in the shadows watching her.

*_*_*_*_*_*_

Ginny moved her food around in her plate. It was breakfast; before she went to the Great Hall she went to see Draco in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey forbids her to go in despite her protest. She wondered how Draco was doing and if he was awake. Then she felt someone kiss her on the cheek. When she turned she saw Draco smiling at her. Ginny flung herself to her.

"Why, good-morning Red," Draco said. Draco's nickname for Ginny was Red because of her famous Weasley hair.

Ginny pulled away from him and slapped him on the face. Everybody turned because they heard the slap. They were now staring at the couple wondering what Draco would do.

"What was that for?" Draco asked angrily.

"How dare you do that to me," Ginny said, "Do you know how worried I was about you? When I saw you walking in here yesterday like a drunkard and then you fainting."

"Malfoys don't faint," Draco told her crossing his arms.

Ginny just looked at him madly. Draco went over to her and hugged her, Ginny didn't return the hug, and she just stood there. Draco buried his face in her hair.

"I'm sorry," Draco muttered in her hair.

Draco pulled away from her and smirked.

"So you were worried about me?" Draco asked.

"Why are you joking about this?" Ginny asked angrily walking back to her seat and sitting down.

Draco frowned as he watched the back of her head. Draco took his usual seat at the Gryffindor table, next to Ginny.

"Come on Ginny, please forgive me. It's not like I wanted it to happen," Draco told her.

"Did you know how I felt when I saw how pale you were? What happened Draco?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," Draco told her.

"That's bull, you did know what happened. Madam Pomfrey said that you went to her," Ginny told him angrily, "Tell me what happened."

"I can't," Draco told her.

"Why not?" Ginny asked.

Before Draco could answer and owl dropped a large package in front of him. Then another owl dropped another smaller package. Then a third owl dropped another package. Ginny looked at him questionably.

"Ginny can we talk about this later, away from everybody else?" Draco asked her.

"Fine, but you have to talk," Ginny told him.

"What's all that Malfoy?" Ron asked.

Each of the packages had a card, he opened one of them.

"Birthday presents," Draco answered after putting the card back in its envelope.

Ginny was surprised, she never asked Draco when his Birthday was, and now she missed it.

"Oh my gosh Draco, I'm sorry I didn't know," Ginny told him immediately forgetting that she was mad at him.

"It's fine Ginny, I never told you anyway," Draco told her.

"Why don't you open them Malfoy," Ron asked curious as to what he got.

Draco opened the package on the top of the pile. He ripped the wrapping paper and saw a box. He opened the box and was horrified with what he saw. It was those hideous leather trousers that he saw that summer.

****

-*Flashback*-

"You have to wear these," Tracy told Draco.

Tracy, Bru and Hermione dragged Draco to the mall. Actually Tracy and Hermione dragged Draco, Bru was threaten to come along.

"I will not wear that hideous thing," Draco told her scowling, "Do you know what it is?"

"Of course, these are trousers, leather in fact," Tracy told him.

"I will not wear them," Draco said crossing his arms.

"If I were you I would do what the Princess of Evil wants," Bru said laughing, "Or she'll strap you to a chair and put it on for you."

Tracy scowled at him.

"Just wear them Draco," Hermione said smirking.

Draco looked at her horrified. After a lot of pushing and protest Draco came out of the dressing room. Hermione turned to look at him and her eyes widened.

"Doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it," Bru said.

Tracy slapped him on the arm.

"Speechless Hermione?" Draco asked smirking, "I can barely walk in this thing. Can I change now?"

"We are definitely getting those," Tracy said.

"We are not. End of the conversation," Draco said walking back to the dressing room.

Much to Tracy's disappointment they didn't buy the leather trousers that day.

*_*_*_*_*_

"What is it Draco?" Ginny asked.

Draco gave her the package. Ginny took out a pair of leather trousers. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you going to wear this," Ginny asked.

"Of course not, I'm going to burn it," Draco said trying to get it back from her.

Ginny held the trouser away from him.

"You will not, a friend spent money on you, you shouldn't burn your gift," Ginny told him.

"Fine, I won't burn that thing, but I'll never wear it," Draco said putting the trousers back in its box. Draco opened letter to the next package.

__

Draco,

Happy Birthday. I saw you looking at this when we went shopping one day. I thought that maybe you wanted it, so I bought it for you. I hope that you like it.

Love, Hermione

Draco put the letter in his robes. He opened the package. It was a switchblade with an intricate design on the handle. When he opened it the design on the blade was that of a dragon. He examined it a little. Then he threw it towards Hermione. The switchblade was sticking out of the apple that she was holding. Hermione looked shocked, so was everybody that just saw what Draco just did.

"Draco! What do you think that you're doing?" Ginny asked.

Draco stared at Hermione daring her to do something.

****

-*Flashback*-

"How could you do this to me?" Draco asked Hermione.

"Draco, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen," Hermione told him.

She walked towards him.

"Stay away from me!" Draco yelled at her.

"Draco, please listen to me," Hermione said.

"Where you just playing with me?" Draco asked, "You knew that nothing could have ever happened between us, you knew!"

"Yes, I knew that nothing could happen between us. I'm sorry Draco, I didn't know that things would get so far," Hermione tried to explain.

"You said you cared for me. You said that you loved me, was that a lie like everything else?" Draco asked her.

"I did love you Draco, but not the way that you wanted," Hermione told him.

Draco pushed her to the wall and held her there.

"Why?" Draco asked, "Why did you do this to me?"

"I'm sorry Draco. I'm sorry that I hurt you," Hermione said, she was beginning to cry, "Are you going to hurt me?"

Draco let go of her and backed away. He looked at her horrified.

"I could never hurt you. I could never hurt you, Hermione," Draco said.

*_*_*_*_*_*_

Ron pulled Draco from his chair.

"What do you think that your doing Malfoy?" Ron asked angrily.

Hermione walked over to them. She put a hand on Ron shoulder.

"Ron, put Malfoy down. Leave him alone," Hermione told him calmly.

"But Hermione," Ron pleaded with her.

"Ron, just leave Malfoy," Hermione told him.

Ron released Draco. Ron tried to pull Hermione away from Draco, but Hermione pulled away from him. Hermione walked towards Draco and gave him the switchblade.

"I don't want that," Draco said.

Hermione took one of his hands and put the switchblade on his palm and closed his fingers around it. Hermione looked at him in the eye.

"I'm sorry," she told him.

She knew that the knife reminded him their summer. She was surprised that he still talks to her, after what she did to him. Draco's eyes seemed to pierce hers.

"I forgave you a long time ago," Draco told her so that only she could hear.

He then turned away and walked out of the Great Hall, forgetting about the other package. Hermione watched his retreating figure. Everybody else in the Great Hall wondered what just happened. How could Hermione act the way that she just did, everybody wondered.

Ginny on the other hand was wondering what was going on between Hermione and Draco. She never saw Draco act the way that he just did. Hermione's actions were also surprising. Ginny had to find out what happened between those two.

"Hermione, are you all right?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine Ron, I'm going to the library, I need to return a book," Hermione told him as if nothing happened.

"Do you want me to go with you to make sure the git won't hurt you again?" Ron asked.

"He didn't hurt me," Hermione simply told him, "He'd never hurt me."

Hermione left the confused Ron. Ron stared after her and then ran to catch up with her. After Ron left Ginny saw a letter on the floor. She picked it up and recognized it as the letter that came with the switchblade. She wanted to open it, but she wanted to respect Draco's privacy. But, she also wanted to know why Draco was acting so strangely. Maybe this letter will explain it she thought. Ginny opened the envelope and started to take out the letter.

A/N: Well that's all for chapter 9. I know that I said that there would be Quidditch and stargazing, but plans changed.

Next chapter: Will Ginny read the letter? What will happen if she does? We find out what was in the other package. Ginny and Draco have a talk.


	12. Chapter 10: His Promise to Her

Disclaimer: JK Rowlings owns everything except for Linda.

A/N: Thank you to my reviewers, charismatic and Crystal

Sorry I had to leave you guys hanging.

Chapter 10: His Promise to Her

Ginny's hands were shaking. She was holding a letter, a letter that Hermione wrote to Draco. Of all the things in the letter, two words stood out to Ginny, Love Hermione. Ginny thought of all the possible meanings. Draco and Hermione didn't have a relationship, Ginny thought. It's just two words; it could mean anything. Ginny thought of all the letters that her brothers and parents wrote to her, they all ended with love and their name. Ginny thought that if they were friends, why were they always snapping at each other and trading insults. It didn't make any sense for her, but Ginny had to admit that Draco acted differently around Hermione. Sometimes when Draco thought that Ginny wasn't looking he would sneak glances at Hermione, Ginny didn't think that that was anything. Then yesterday Draco smiled at Hermione; it was somehow different from the smiles he gives to Ginny. As Ginny reread the letter, she found out that Draco and Hermione were together for the summer. Draco supposedly disappeared after the attack on his family; nobody knew where he was. How did Hermione know, Ginny thought. Then a thought crossed her mind. Were Draco and Hermione having a relationship behind her back? Draco and Hermione would not do that to her, she thought. Could they? Unaware to her, a pair of eyes was watching her.

"You'll get what you deserve," the person said.

*_*_*_*_*_

A vase was thrown to the wall and it shattered upon impact.

"You're really angry today aren't you?" Neville asked.

Another vase hit the wall. Neville, Draco and Harry were in their training class. They were in an unused room. It was probably the biggest room in the entire school. It worked to their advantages, because it seemed that the room already had a silencing charm in it and there were no windows, so they had privacy. The boys accidentally stumbled on to it day after their second meeting in Dumbledore's class. They have been using it ever since.

"You think?" Draco asked angrily.

This time instead of a vase a chair flew to the wall. The only thing the boys could do is move objects, but it took energy and time. They could only do magic without a wand after focusing enough emotions, usually anger. Today though, the moment Draco walked into the room he broke the first vase of the day. Harry watched Draco with amusement and Draco saw this.

"I wonder what Ginny sees in you," Harry asked.

Draco glared at him, "Why Potter, jealous? The little weasel has finally grown up and you finally noticed her?"

"Why do you talk about Ginny that way?" Harry asked referring to the weasel part.

"Harry, leave him," Neville said, "He doesn't know what he's saying, he's just angry he can't think straight."

Draco glared at the boy.

"Why are you defending him?" Harry asked, "He hasn't changed no matter what Ginny says. He's still the Slytherin Slime that I remember."

"Don't you see Potter were all the same," Draco said.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked him, "I'm nothing like you, Death Eater."

"Do we have to go through this again?" Draco asked, "I'm not a Death Eater!"

"Then prove it, something happened this summer and I know it. Why don't you lift up your sleeve," Harry said.

Harry was pushed to the wall. In what seemed like a blink of an eye Draco was holding him by his robes. Draco's eyes were flashing with anger.

"Potter, I'm not a Death Eater. No matter what everybody says I'm not one of them. I'd rather die than join that coward," Draco said.

"Then why are you not dead?" Harry asked him.

Draco just about lost it. He backed away from Harry; he did not want to waste his time on Potter.

"When I said that we were all the same, I was not lying," Draco said through clenched teeth, "Have you noticed? All three of us have lost both of our parents. Voldemort took them all away. We're all orphans. I had to watch both my parents die. Do you think that I'll join my mother's murderer?"

Harry just stood there, he didn't no what to say. He could clearly see that Malfoy suffered somehow. He remembered all the times Malfoy would say that he would tell his father if anything would happen to him. Malfoy probably revered his dad, Harry thought. Then Harry remembered what Malfoy said, his mother's murderer.

"How did your father die?" Harry asked.

Draco's gray eyes bore through Harry's green ones.

"Have you ever heard how curiosity killed the cat?" Draco asked him.

Then Draco turned away and walked towards the wall opposite of Harry.

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"What?" Draco asked.

"I'm sorry about you mother," Harry told him.

"Don't say that your sorry Potter, don't say that because I know that you don't mean it. You didn't even know her. You have nothing to be sorry for," Draco told him.

They stood there in silence for five minutes. Harry was beginning to feel uncomfortable in the silence.

"You had good aim Malfoy. The thing with the apple was amazing," Harry said. After Harry caught up with Hermione after Breakfast, Hermione pleaded with Harry not to hurt Draco. He asked her why, but she wouldn't answer. Harry thought that something was going on between Malfoy and Hermione but he didn't want to press any further.

"How did you know that I didn't miss?" Draco asked.

Harry's head shot up at this.

"What did you say?" Harry asked.

"You heard me," Draco said.

"Why you…" Harry started. He was angry, very angry.

Draco was thrown to the wall. Harry somehow flew over to him and punched him in the face. Harry was going to punch him again, but Draco kneed (kicked with his knee) him on the stomach. Using this advantage Draco punched him on the face. Harry quickly got up and threw Draco to the wall again. The back of Draco's head hit the wall hard and started bleeding. Harry used the opportunity to pin him to the wall.

"Don't you dare hurt Hermione," Harry said.

Draco kicked him again and Harry let go of him. Then they started fighting again with their fist. Harry quickly found out that Draco learned how to fight. Draco would block his punches with is left arm and punch with the right. Thankfully for Harry, he was able to make a few hard punches once in a while, whenever Draco tripped over a piece of furniture.

"Guys stop it!" Neville yelled.

Draco and Harry ignored him. Then both of the boys flew to the wall. Something like shackles went around their hands. Harry and Draco struggled but could not get free. Neville was breathing hard; you could see his chest rise up and down with each breath. Then they saw Dumbledore walk in the room. His eyes surveyed the scene before him. He walked towards Neville and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. Longbottom, I think that it is safe to release them," Dumbledore told him.

Neville nodded and the shackles disappeared. Both Harry and Draco got down on their knees, they put their hands in front of them to keep balance. Harry was exhausted with all the energy he used to throw Draco to the wall; he also got bruises through the fight, a busted lip and a cut on his cheek. He looked at Draco and was surprised to see him worse off. Draco was bleeding from the head; he also busted his lip and also got bruises. When he looked at Draco closer he saw that he had trouble breathing.

"I am disappointed with you two, I expected that you two to put aside difference to work together. Fifty points off each houses, Mr. Malfoy are you all right?" Dumbledore asked.

"It hurts, it hurts every time I take a breath," Draco answered wincing.

"I think that you may have broken a rib and punctured a lung, you two will have to see Madam Pomfrey. She will heal any serious injuries, but that is all. The rest of your injuries will heal the muggle way, punishment for fighting," Dumbledore told him.

Harry got up and started limping towards the door. Neville went over to him to help him.

"I think that you should help Malfoy, I'll be fine," Harry said.

Neville nodded and walked over to Draco. He put Draco's arm around his shoulder and help him up. Together the three boys walked to the hospital wing.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Ginny was sitting in the Great Hall for lunch. Ron and Hermione were sitting across from her.

"Ron you have to rewrite this essay," Hermione told him, "It looks like you did it in your sleep."

"Hermione it's fine, I don't have time to rewrite it. I don't think that Snape will care. I'm already failing his class. Just leave it," Ron told her.

"Fine, go ahead turn that thing in. See if I care," Hermione told him.

Ron was about to say something but three people just walked in the Great Hall, Harry, Neville and Malfoy. Neville was in between the two. As they were nearing Ron could see that Harry got in a fight, and Malfoy too. Harry was also limping towards the table.

"I have to go to the Slytherin table," Draco told Neville.

"Do you need help?" Neville asked him.

Draco shook his head and started walking. He walked towards the Slytherin table. Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle looked surprised, but they immediately started making room for him. When Draco sat down, Pansy started talking to him. Draco said something to her and she became quiet.

"What happened Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry sat down but didn't answer.

"Neville?" Hermione asked.

"Harry and Draco got into a fight," Neville explained.

"What?" Hermione asked, "What happened?"

"Malfoy insulted you," Harry answered.

"What did he say?" Hermione asked.

Harry didn't answer; he just got food and started eating.

"Fine, don't answer. Neville can you tell me what happened?" Hermione asked.

"Harry was commenting on that stunt Malfoy pulled this morning, the knife thing," Neville answered, "Draco answered back and Harry lost his temper."

"So Harry struck first?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked at her. Of all the questions to ask she asked that one. Why would she care if he struck first or not? Malfoy fought back. She didn't even ask if he was all right.

"Is Draco all right?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, why would you care about Malfoy. What about Harry?" Ron asked.

"He's my boyfriend Ron," Ginny answered, "Why wouldn't I care about him."

What did Ginny see in a guy like Malfoy, Harry thought.

"He's fine, aside from a broken rib, that big bump on his head and a few bruises," Harry answered.

"Why didn't Madam Pomfrey heal you two?" Ron asked.

"Ron, the fighting policy won't allow Madam Pomfrey to heal us. She will only heal the serious injuries, and the rest will heal the muggle way," Harry answered.

Harry ate in silence the rest of the lunch. He looked sideways at Ginny; he was worried about her. Then he saw Malfoy walking toward him. Then Malfoy turned to Ginny and said something to her. Ginny nodded; together they walked out the Great Hall.

*_*_*_*_*

Ginny and Draco were outside the front entrance of Hogwarts.

"What do you want to talk about Ginny?" Draco asked.

"Draco, you've been acting strangely. Is something wrong?" Ginny asked.

Draco looked at her confused.

"No, why?" Draco asked. Then he saw a shadow on the wall, but there was nothing there.

Ginny decided to get straight to the point.

"Is there something going on between you and Hermione?" She asked him.

"No, why do you ask," Draco told her.

Ginny took out the letter and gave it to him.

"What is that then?" She asked him.

Draco opened the letter and read it.

"Where did you get this?" Draco asked.

"Never mind where I got that, what is it? What is Hermione to you?" Ginny asked.

"Do you want to know the truth?" Draco asked.

"Yes, Draco I want to know the truth. I want to know a lot of things about you, but you won't tell me. I don't even know who you are. You're so secretive," Ginny told him.

"Why would you care what Hermione is to me, for all you know she has a crush on me and gave me that," Draco told her.

"Don't change the subject. Tell me what happened between you and Hermione," Ginny told him.

"What happened between Hermione and me is none of your business," Draco told her.

"Why isn't it? Shouldn't I know? You never tell me anything Draco. Whenever we're together I do most of the talking. I'm your girlfriend Draco and I deserve to know," Ginny told him.

"You don't deserve to know anything! It's none of your business, it's personal. I don't go around asking you about the Chamber of Secrets!" Draco tried to keep his voice down but failed. Ginny looked surprised at this.

"How did you know? Nobody except for my family and Harry knew," Ginny said.

"Do you think that I'm blind? I saw you; you were different from your family. Then is saw you with the diary, that thing has been in my family for ages. I owled father about it, he told me to leave you. That of course made me wonder why. I watched you Ginny for that entire year. I had it figured by the time that you disappeared. Of course, father told me all about it later in the summer," Draco said laughing. He was thinking about how mad his father was that his planned failed. He actually congratulated Ginny for beating Lucius.

Ginny didn't know why he laughed. How could he laugh about something like this, she thought.

"Why are you laughing?" She asked, "You don't know what Tom did to me! You don't know what I went through that year! How dare you laugh!"

Draco looked at her; he saw that he hurt her. He walked towards her, but she backed away.

"Stay away from me!" Ginny yelled at him.

"Ginny," Draco told her, he was walking towards to her, but she backed away.

Draco finally got close enough to her and held her close to him. Ginny struggled to get away from him.

"Ginny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring this up, I'm sorry," Draco told her.

"You don't know what he did to me! He used me, he used me. He said he cared, and I was foolish enough to believe. He was everything to me, he betrayed me," Ginny said, she was beginning to cry.

Draco's heart broke for her. He now truly hated Lucius for doing this to her. Of all the things, he had to bring an innocent person into his plans, but Draco knew that this was not he first time he has done this.

"Ginny, I'm sorry. I…" Draco started but he didn't know what to say, "Please don't cry. He's not worth your tears."

By then Ginny stopped struggling. Draco picked her up and he walked to a tree by the lake. He sat down in the shade and positioned her on his lap. He got a handkerchief and wiped her tears. Ginny was staring at his face. Then she touched his face, she stared at his eyebrow where his scar started, then his cheeks. Draco stopped breathing when she did this. Then Ginny touched his lips, her fingers lingered there for a while. Then she brought his face down to hers. When her lips touched his she started kissing him. Draco was there when she wanted to talk; he was there when she had trouble. Maybe, just maybe he could wash away the pain that she was feeling.

Draco was surprised when she kissed him. The last time he really kissed her was that day in her room, when she said she'd given him a chance. The kisses that he had given to her the past month were just small pecks. The last time, he felt guilty for using her. This time, he changed. He kissed her back, wanting to get rid of the pain that Tom had left. He wanted to do many things for her. He made a promise to her that day; he would stop acting. He would change for her. Not for Hermione or her aunt or anybody else, for Ginny, he would change only for Ginny. She has also suffered; it was obvious that she hasn't recovered from the chamber. Draco wanted to help her ease the pain. He didn't think about his role as Darien. Through out the whole time he was kissing her, he thought of only Ginny.

The figure in the shadows took of his invisibility cloak. Harry watched the scene from the entrance.

"Maybe, you were right Ginny. Maybe, someone like Malfoy could change," Harry said to nobody.

Harry turned around and went inside the castle.

A/N: So what do you guys think? I hope I wasn't repeating myself too much. If anybody want to be notified about the when the next chapter will be uploaded, just leave your e-mail in your review.

Next Chapter: Maybe Quidditch. They will go to Hogsmeade.


	13. Chapter 11: Kikikalikimaka?

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowlings.

A/N: Thank you to all my reviewer. A very very big thank you to francesca (frananddragon) for betaing, without you this chapter would not be up.

Chapter 11: Kikikalikimaka??

It has been ten minutes since Ginny and Draco ended their kiss. Ginny was still in Draco's arms. Her face was buried in his chest. She loved listening to his heartbeat. She leaned back to look at his face. 

"What now?" She asked him. Draco looked down at her. He pushed a strand of hair away from her face. 

"Do you want to skip classes today?" Draco asked.

"No, not really. We have DADA. If Ron notices that I'm not there, he'd panic," Ginny explained.

"Since when did you start caring what that git says?" Draco asked. Ginny punched him lightly on the stomach.

"He's my brother. I know he's a git sometimes, but he's just worried about me," Ginny answered. Something occurred to Ginny, Hermione was their partner in DADA. The whole reason they fought was because of the letter that Hermione sent to Draco and he still didn't answer her question. What happened between those two?

"Draco?" Ginny asked.

"Yes?" 

"What happened between you and Hermione this summer?" Ginny inquired. Draco looked at the lake when she asked this. He was hoping that she already forgot about Hermione. He didn't want to lie to her anymore.

"We- we became friends," Draco answered.

"Just friends?" Ginny asked him, "if you guys are friends, why do you still snap at each other?"

"Hermione wants it that way. We were more than friends. It didn't work out," Draco told her. Ginny didn't know what to say.

"We're you in a romantic relationship with her?" Ginny asked.

"Romantic?" Draco chuckled, "I guess."

"Did you love her? Do you?" Ginny asked. She needed to know. When she asked this Draco gazed at her.

"Love Hermione? No, I never loved her, maybe I was infatuated with her, but I didn't love her. If you're talking about sisterly love, then my answer is yes," Draco answered.

"Really?"

Draco smiled at her, "Yes, really. Why do you ask?"

"Why did Hermione sign love in her letter? Does she love you?" Ginny asked.

"Why all the questions about love? Hermione and I love each other like brother and sister. Like you and your brothers, that's all. Besides, she has feelings for someone else. She doesn't want to admit it but it's obvious" Draco answered.

"Who?" Ginny asked her curiosity getting the better half of her. Draco got up, bringing Ginny along with him.

"We have to go now. You said you wanted to go to class. We're already late," said Draco ignoring her question. Ginny hated that he always changes the subject if he doesn't like talking about it.

"What about our books?"

"We can just read with Hermione, she wouldn't care," Draco answered. Ginny grabbed Draco's hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you for telling me about Hermione," She told him. Draco didn't say anything which caused her to looked up at him. Draco was looking out the lake.

"Could you not tell anyone about Hermione and me, we'd like to keep it a secret," he asked

"Why?"

"Hermione doesn't want to answer question about the summer, neither do I. There are some things that are better left unsaid," Draco told her. Ginny thought that since they were telling the truth that she should ask her question.

"What happened?" she asked. Draco looked at her coldly.

"We made promises to each other that we couldn't keep. I don't want to talk about it. Perhaps, I'll tell you some other time, until then, please don't ask me about this again," he said. Ginny just squeezed Draco's hand. Together they walked to the DADA classroom. When Draco opened the door all eyes turned to them.

"Sorry we're late Professor. We had to talk," Draco told Linda.

"Fine, just take your seats," Linda said. Draco and Ginny walked to the table where Hermione was sitting.

"What happened?" Hermione whispered to Ginny.

"I'll tell you later," Ginny answered. The class, to Draco, was boring. All they talked about were dark creatures. Today they were discussing Dementors. Linda was going to teach them the Patronus tomorrow. Draco already knows the spell. He noticed Harry in the corner of his eye looking smug.

*Flashback*

"Father, I'm sorry. I won't do it again," a seven-year-old Draco said.

"How dare you disobey me?" Lucius said dragging Draco to the dungeons.

"Father you're hurting me," Draco whined.

"I have warned you not to go into the village. You have disobeyed me and worse, you befriended a muggle girl. A muggle!" Lucius yelled.

Lucius opened the dungeon door and he pushed Draco inside. He closed the door and locked it.

"Father, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Draco said banging on the door.

"I will come back after you have thought about what you have done," Lucius said.

"Father please," Draco pleaded with him. Lucius was gone. Draco suddenly felt cold. He turned around and saw a hooded figure walking towards him.

"Father, help me!" Draco screamed getting away from the figure, "Father!" The Dementor was almost touching Draco. Draco felt the happiness being sucked out of him. In the end everything became foggy and Draco lost consciousness. When Draco woke up, he was in his bed.

"You're finally awake. Draco, you understand that I did what I had to do for the family. It was only supposed to teach you a lesson," Lucius said. He walked over to Draco's bedside and gave him a chocolate bar.

"Eat this," Lucius ordered. When Draco took a bite he felt a little better. Lucius conjured a seat next to the bed and sat down.

"I'm only doing this for us, Draco. You cannot ruin our name. Do you understand?" Lucius asked.

"Yes, father," Draco answered.

"Good. You should rest. You are expected to come to breakfast tomorrow. You have already missed dinner," Lucius said. Lucius got up, turned and left the room.

*End of Flashback*

"Draco, are you all right?" Ginny asked him.

"I'm fine. I was just remembering something," Draco told her.

"Oh, class is over. We're the only people left," Ginny told him. Draco looked around the room, it was empty and Linda was gone. Draco got up and helped Ginny up as well.

"What now?" Draco asked.

"Oh, Draco! I just remembered! When you left breakfast this morning, you forgot a package. I brought it to my room," Ginny told him. Ginny grabbed Draco's hand and practically dragged him to the Gryffindor tower.

"Am I allowed in there?" Draco asked, "Won't your brothers' protest?"

"I'm not sure. Remember, I'll protect you from my brothers," Ginny told him. Draco smiled her.

"So far, you're doing a good job," Draco said.

"Thank you," replied Ginny. She turned to the fat lady and said the password. The portrait opened and they walked into the common room. Ron looked to see who walked in and when he saw Draco, he got up and walked towards him.

"What's he doing here?" Ron demanded.

"I just wanted to give him his other package. It's in my room," Ginny said.

"Your room? You won't take him up there. What if he does something? What if you two do something?" Ron asked.

"Weasley, I'm not stupid enough to touch your sister when you're just in the other room," Draco told Ron. Ron glared at the boy.

"Ron, if you want tocome with us," Ginny told her brother.

"Fine, I will," Ron said looking triumphant. Ron expected Draco to say something. When he didn't reply Ron was surprised. Silently the three walked to Ginny's room. On her bed was the package. Ginny pulled Draco to her bed. She sat cross-legged on the bed while Draco stood next to her.

"Are you going to open it?" Ginny asked. Draco grabbed the package and ripped the wrapping paper. When he saw what the package was he stared in shock, as did Ron. Ron decided to take a closer look.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ron asked.

"It's a Cloud Burst," Draco said. The Cloud Burst was the newest broom on the market. It was superiorly better than the Firebolt, which has been in the market for two years.

"Who'd spend that much money on you?" Ron asked. The Cloud Burst was also the most expensive racing broom currently on market. Draco saw a card, picked it up and read it. He smiled after he found out whom it was from.

"My grandparents," Draco answered.

"You have grandparents?" Ron asked. Ginny would have asked the same thing. She thought that everybody in Draco's family was dead; apparently she was wrong.

"Yes I do. So do you, if you have parents. You know that your grandparents are the parents of your parents," Draco explained to Ron.

"I know what they are Malfoy. I just didn't know that yours were still alive," Ron replied heatedly. Draco picked up the broom and examined it. He ran his hand across the broom handle and turned to Ginny

"Do you want to test this with me?" Draco asked her. Ginny nodded, to which Ron protested.

"Ginny, it's not safe. What if Malfoy drops you?" Ron asked.

"I would not drop Ginny. I'm a better flyer than you think," Draco said.

"Then why does Harry always beat you?" Ron countered.

"I have to admit that Potter is a natural when it comes to flying, but that doesn't mean that I can't fly. If you haven't noticed, the only person that I haven't beaten is him. I always beat Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff," Draco explained. When Ron thought about it, he realized that Draco was telling the truth.

"I won't drop your sister, I promise. Let's make a deal. If you let Ginny ride with me, I'll let you ride my broom when we get back, you can also ride it tomorrow," Draco said.

"Really?" Ron asked. Draco smirked when Ron said that.

"Wait a minute. The first Hogsmeade visit is tomorrow," Ron said.

"Weasley we leave the castle at eleven, you have enough time to fly," Draco said. Ron seemed to think about the deal. He really wanted to try the new broom. All he had to do was let Ginny fly Malfoy.

"Fine it's a deal," Ron said. Draco nodded. He helped Ginny off her bed.

"We'll just fly out your window," Draco said. Draco was standing on the windowsill holding the broom. He jumped off and a minute later he was hovering in front of the window. He helped Ginny get on the broom. Ginny was sitting behind him; she was hugging his waist.

"See you later Weasley," Draco said flying off.

"Take care of my sister, or I'll personally kill you!" Ron yelled after them. Ron watched their figure. From where he was standing he could see Ginny laughing. He smiled at the thought of his sister being happy. He remembered the little girl that came out the chamber of secrets. Ron blamed himself for what happened to Ginny in his second year. He kept telling himself if he paid more attention to her, she would have never been down there. That summer, Ginny kept on having nightmares and each night Ron would go to her room to comfort her. Ginny would end up crying on his shirt, and falling asleep in his arms. If Malfoy made his sister happy, then he'll have to get used to him. Ron would have never thought that his sister would date his worst enemy. Ron looked out the window; they were flying near the lake. Ron suddenly felt sad. He wished that he had a girlfriend. He wanted to experience what his sister and Malfoy were having. Then his thoughts turned to Hermione. Ron found out during this summer that he had feelings for her. All he needed now was the courage to tell her, but he was scared. He was scared of rejection. Ron remembered that Ginny said that Malfoy was the one that asked Ginny to be his girlfriend. If Ginny gave Malfoy a chance, then maybe Hermione will give him a chance too. Ron shook his head. Hermione thinks of him only as a friend. Sadly Ron walked back to the common room.

*_*_*_*

Draco flew near the lake, landed on the grass and got off his broom.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked him. 

"Do you want to maneuver the broom?" 

"Could I?"

"Sure, you know how to fly a broom right?" 

"Of course, I grew up with six brothers. All they ever talked about was Quidditch," Ginny told him. Draco smiled at her and sat behind her. He wrapped one arm around her waist and with his hand, put it over her own hands. He leaned over her shoulder.

"Why don't you put your hands over mine, so you can control the broom," Draco told her. Ginny did what he told her. Suddenly they rose up in the air. Ginny was surprised at the speed of the broom. She didn't even have to tilt the broom to make it turn; it was as if the broom could read her mind. She liked the feeling of freedom flying gave her. She rode low enough to touch the water in the lake. She put her hand in the water and it rose up like a fountain. Draco was watching Ginny's face. She looked happy as she was flying. Her lips curved up in a smile. Her eyes were squinting against the sun. Draco thought that she was beautiful. He even thought that her freckles were cute. They were now flying over the Quidditch field and they were hovering over it.

"Is something the matter?" Draco asked her.

"No. I love Quidditch. I'm thinking about joining the house team next year as a chaser," Ginny said.

"Really?" Draco asked her. Ginny nodded.

"Have you ever tried the Wronski Feint?" Draco asked her.

"No, why?" Ginny asked. Draco smiled at her mischievously.

"Hold on tight," Draco said.

"Draco, no!" Ginny said, but it was too late. Ginny was able to hold tight on the broom as Draco dipped down. Ginny managed a death grip on the handle of the broom as Draco dipped down. He put his hand over hers and started laughing.They were now vertical against the ground. They were going down at an alarming rate. Ginny was squinting because of the wind. They were getting closer to the ground.

"Draco pull up," Ginny said, "Pull up!" Draco was not listening.

"Draco!" Ginny yelled. She closed her eyes expecting for the impact. Suddenly they pulled from the drop. Ginny heard the flapping of Draco's robes.

"Ginny, you can open your eyes," Draco said. Ginny opened her eyes and saw that they were on the ground. Ginny immediately got off the broom and she slapped Draco on the face.

"Don't you dare do that to me again!" She yelled at him. Draco put a hand on the spot where she slapped him.

"Hey that hurt," Draco said.

"I'm glad it does," Ginny said. She turned around and started walking back to the castle.

"Ginny, I'm sorry," Draco said. He got off his broom, shouldered it while he jogged to keep up with her.

"Ginny, come on. I was just having a little fun," Draco said. Ginny continued to walk, Draco was right behind her.

"Ginny," Draco said. Draco pleaded until he heard a laughing behind him. He turned and saw the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Potter," Draco greeted him. Harry was laughing, "That was a great Feint Malfoy, but I don't think Ginny thought so."

"Very funny Potter. How was it?" Draco asked referring to the feint. Ginny made a sound of frustration. She was already out of the Quidditch field. Ginny neither talked nor faced him throughout her walk towards the Gryffindor common room to which Draco followed.

"Back already?" Ron asked. Ginny didn't answer; she went straight to her room.

"What happened?" Ron asked.

"Oh, I guess she got scared," Draco said.

"What did you do?" Ron asked walking towards him. Ron narrowed his eyes at Draco.

"We were riding the broom together and I tried the Wronski Feint," Draco explained.

"No wonder she's mad at you. Are you stupid?" Ron asked, "That's one of the most dangerous moves in Quidditch for crying out loud."

"Well now I know not to do it again," Draco said.

"Word of advice. Let Ginny cool down a bit. A calm Ginny is better than a mad Ginny," Ron told him.

"Why are you telling me this?" Draco asked him, "Why are you being nice?"

"If Ginny is happy with you, I'll have to put up with you," Ron confessed.

"Right now Ginny is mad at me. That gives you a reason to switch to over-protective brother mode," Draco told him.

"Ginny won't be mad at you for long. She doesn't know it yet, but she's starting to return your feelings. She's starting to fall in love with you," Ron explained,

"How do you know?"

"Don't tell Ginny I told you this, but whenever you're not looking Ginny looks at you. She looks at you the way my mum looks at my dad. If that look doesn't scream love then I don't know what does," Ron told him. Draco didn't know what to say. This was his goal, wasn't it? To make Ginny fall in love with him. He was almost there, but somehow he didn't feel relieved. Draco suddenly felt cold.

"Are you all right?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine. Here," Draco said. Draco handed the broom to Ron, who took it and examined it.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Ron asked.

"We made a deal. Just don't crash it into the Womping Willow," Draco said. Ron nodded, and he left the common room after saying thank you to Draco. Draco stood in the common room alone. Everybody was outside enjoying the sun, everybody but Ginny and him. The portrait hole opened. Okay, maybe they were not the only ones. When Draco saw the person holding a stack of book, he knew who it was. He went over to her and helped her.

"Thank you," said the person. When she saw his face she looked at him in surprise, "What are you doing here Malfoy."

"Nobody's here, Hermione," Draco said, "You looked like you needed help." 

"Oh, are you here to see Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"No. We just came back after flying. I need to talk to you," Draco told her.

"Okay, we can go to my room," Hermione said. She walked in front of him, and Draco followed her. When they reached the room Hermione put the books she was holding on her bed.

"You can put the books there," Hermione said. She walked to the door and locked it, and then she put a silencing charm around the room.

"I want to tell Ginny," Draco said immediately.

"Tell Ginny what?" Hermione asked him.

"About Gwenivere and Darien," Draco answered.

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"Draco if you tell her, she'll probably end your relationship with her," Hermione explained. 

"She wouldn't. It's seem safe, her brother said that she's falling in love with me," Draco said. Hermione was surprised at this news.

"It's not safe Draco. If you tell her, you'll make it seem like you were only using her," Hermione told him.

"I can't do this anymore. I can't lie to her," Draco confessed.

"You're not lying to anybody. You're just keeping the truth from them," Hermione said, "Why the change of heart. You didn't seem to care about her feelings when this started."

"She doesn't deserve what I'm doing," Draco told Hermione.

"You're starting to love her aren't you?" Hermione asked.

"What?"

"'You heard me," Hermione said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Draco told her. Hermione started laughing.

"You're falling for Ginny Weasley. Draco Malfoy in love with Ginny Weasley, now that's priceless," Hermione said.

"That's not funny. Don't say things about love. I told you that I couldn't love. What is it with you girls and your ideas of love and happiness? You don't have the right to talk to me about that subject after what you did to me," Draco said. Hermione turned serious at his last statement.

"You know that I felt guilty about that. I said that I'm sorry and you forgave me," Hermione told him.

"I do, but that doesn't mean that I'll forget about it," Draco said, "I won't tell Ginny about Gwenivere." Draco turned and said the counter curse for the lock. He opened the door and left. Hermione stared at the door and she sat down on her bed.

"I didn't mean to hurt you Draco," Hermione said to nobody.

*_*_*_*_*

Ginny was sitting in front of the Gryffindor table for dinner. She hasn't seen Draco since she left him in the common room. Ron was sitting across from her talking to Harry. Ron was currently telling Harry about the moves that he was able to do on Draco's broom. Ginny thought that her fight with Draco seemed foolish. She wasn't really mad at him; she always wanted to try the Wronski Feint but she never had the courage or daring to do so. She was just scared that Draco would pull a stunt like that with her. She wanted to see Draco and say sorry for leaving him like that.

"Ginny," someone said. Ginny looked upupon hearing her name to see how it was; it was Draco. Ginny got up and hugged him. "Am I forgiven?" Draco asked. Ginny kissed on the chin and nodded. Draco smiled at her.

"Aww! Isn't that sweet. Ferret and Gin-Gin made up," Fred said. Draco chose to ignore those two.

"Guys, tomorrow is the Hogsmeade visit. We have a surprise," George said.

"What is it?" Ron asked interested.

"Well, I said it was a surprise," George told him.

"Just tell them Forge, I'm so excited. I can't wait to tell them," Fred said.

"Okay, okay, okay. Brace yourselves," George warned.

"Okay, tell us the surprise, I hate the suspense," Ginny said.

"We're starting a business!" Fred and George said together.

"That's it?" Ron asked. Ginny kicked him under the table. Ron glared at her.

"Ron, be nice. Is that true Fred?" Ginny asked.

"Yup yup. We're starting the Weasley Wizard Wheezes. We bought a building in Hogsmeade, that's the surprise," Fred answered. 

"You did?" Ron asked curiously, "Where did you get the money to do that?"

"We have a mysterious benefactor," George said.

"Mysterious benefactor, that sounds familiar," Ginny said.

"What's his name?" Harry asked curiously.

"Potter, mysterious means that they don't know who it is," Draco said. Harry glared at him.

"Actually Malfoy, the person does have a name," George said.

"Frederica Georgiana Kikikalikimaka," Fred answered.

"Kaka what?" Ron asked.

"Kikikalikimaka," Fred and George answered.

"Oh, my gosh. That her name?" Ron asked laughing.

"His name," Fred corrected.

"Is that a real name?" Hermione asked.

"Yup," George said. Harry and Ron looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Haha- did you.. Ha- Hear that? Frederica, who'd name their son Frederica," Ron said.

"I know. Did you hear the last name? Kikikaka something," Harry added. Draco glared at the twins. Maybe he should have picked his own name. Now he'll get mail addressed to that person. He'd have to stand there while everyone would be making fun of him.

"You guys have to come with us. We want to show you the building. You can come too, Malfoy," George said.

"Fine," Draco said. If the twins spent his money on a building, he wanted to know were his money went to. They spent the rest of the evening talking and eating. When they finished, Draco walked Ginny to the tower. After they said good night, Ginny went to her room and Draco went to the dungeons.

*_*_*_*_*

"Is this it?" Ron asked. They were standing in front of a pink building.

"Yup, isn't it nice?" Fred asked.

"Uh, yeah, it stands out," Harry said. He was glad that at least it wasn't a hot pink. The building was pink from the door to the ceiling; everything was pink. He had to admit that it was a big building.

"Why is it so big?" Ginny asked.

"Well, the shop is going to be on the lower floor. The old owner also used to have a shop. The second floor has three rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room. We can live here and work here. There's enough room to experiment to make new jokes. It's also big enough to hold customers. You want to go inside?" George asked holding the key.

"Yeah," Ron said.

"Let's go," Fred said. He walked to the door and took the key from George. He opened the door and told everyone to come in. Ron was impressed with what he saw. There were shelves on the walls, a few tables and a counter. There was already a cash register. He saw behind the counter there was a room, probably for storage he thought.

"Wow," Ginny said.

"George, this probably cost you a lot," Ron commented.

"Yeah it did," Fred said. Draco started coughing, he felt like he couldn't breath. Ginny was patting him on the back.

"Are you all right Draco?" Ginny asked. Draco nodded, "Just the dust."

"Sorry about that, this is the second time we've been here. Didn't have enough time to clean up. We could fix this place up by the summer," George said.

"You're going to live here?" Harry asked.

"Yup," Fred answered.

"Does mum know?" Ron asked.

"Not yet," George answered.

"What's that door," Draco asked gesturing behind the counter.

"Some sort of storage room, it also has stairs that lead to the second floor. There's another room inside there. We're going to use it for experimentation." Fred answered. He gave them the tour of the housewhile George told Draco to stay back. 

"Malfoy, we'll repay you. I guess that we put a dent in your vault," George told him, "Thank you for recommending that person that helped us get this building."

"No problem, he's an old friend. You don't have to repay me, we made a deal. Just help me with Ginny and back me up when the time comes," Draco said.

"Well, if you need a place to stay, you could always come here," George told him. Draco nodded. Suddenly he felt a pain on his left arm, Voldemort was summoning. Fred and everybody came back. Draco noticed that Harry was a bit pale. He walked over to him.

"Potter, are you all right?" Draco asked. Harry looked at him surprised.

"He's near," Harry said. Suddenly they heard a scream outside. After the scream they heard yelling and more screams. Everybody went outside. They froze when they saw what started the commotion. There was about a dozen hooded figures.

"Death Eaters," Harry said. 

"Ginny, run back to the castle," Draco told her.

"What, Draco what's happening?" Ginny asked. People were running past them, everything was chaotic.

"Ron, take Ginny back to the castle," Draco told him.

"What about you?" Ron asked.

"I'll be back, I need to seeto my other friends," Draco lied.

"I won't leave without you," Ginny said stubbornly.

"Go!" Draco yelled at her.

"No, I won't leave," Ginny said. Ron was already pulling her away but she kept struggling against his grasp.

"Fred, George you guys need to go," Draco said.

"We'll fight with you," Fred said. There were already students fighting the Death Eaters, along with some of Hogmeade's residents.

"Ginny, go!" Draco yelled. Ginny wouldn't listen. "I'm sorry, _stupefy_," Draco said. Ginny became limp. "Carry her to the castle Ron," Draco said. Ron nodded and carried Ginny. He ran towards the castle following the other students.

"Why are you helping Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"We're on the same side. Shouldn't you leave? Your number one on Voldie's hit list," Draco said.

"No, I'm fighting," Harry said. Neville ran to them.

"Guys," Neville said, "I'm going to fight." Then a Death Eater spotted the three. He said something to another Death Eater. Soon all the Death Eaters were walking towards them. The three boys pointed their wands toward them. They didn't know any spells that would work. This wasn't a wizard duel; these death eaters will not fool around. The boys knew that the Death Eaters would not hesitate to say the killing curse. 

Draco concentrated on the memory of his mother's death. He looked up and saw the Death Eaters, the same people at his initiation ceremony. He held out his hand and the Death Eater flew back. Harry and Neville seemed to have the same idea. Death Eaters were flying everywhere. Chairs and garbage dumps were hitting them. The three boys worked hard to dodge the curses and concentrate on throwing various items. 

"CRUCIO!"

Draco fell in pain. He tried to fight the pain. He writhes on the floor. Neville got down to help him.

"Draco," Neville said. Draco couldn't help it; there was so much pain. He screamed. He felt like he was being stabbed by a knife everywhere. The only thing he could think of was the unbearable pain.

"Neville, I need help," Harry said. He got closer to the other two. Soon they were surrounded. They were in the middle of a circle that that Death Eaters made. Harry was getting tired. He threw the Death Eaters, but they kept on coming back.

"CRUCIO!"

Harry fell on the floor; he saw that Neville and Draco were also hit by the curse. Pain, there was so much pain. After what seemed like a long time he finally lost consciousness.

Harry suddenly woke up. When he looked around everything was dark. He got up and saw that he was in some sort of dungeon. He noticed that he was caged in. His eyes wondered until it reached a figure on the floor in the corner. He recognized Draco by his hair. He ran towards him. He touched Draco on the shoulder; he felt something thick and sticky. He looked at his hand. It was blood. Harry kneeled down in front of him.

"Draco, Draco are you all right?" Harry asked. 

"Harry," a voice said. Harry turned and saw Neville in another corner. Neville was shaking.

"They tortured him, they tortured him with the Cruciatus curse. Then they beat him. It was horrible," Neville said, he was sobbing.

"Is he alive?" Harry asked.

"He's alive but barely," another voice explained. Harry recognized that hissing voice.

"Voldemort," Harry said.

Next chapter: More Voldemort and company. More is revealed about Gwen and Darry.


	14. Chapter 12: Ron, The Singer

Disclaimer: Everybody should know that I don't own Harry Potter and Company.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. So far this is my longest chapter yet. Thank you so much to Francesca (frananddragon) for betaing. I'm eternally grateful.

Chapter 12: Ron, the Singer

"Well, if it isn't the great Harry Potter," Voldemort said.

"Leave Draco and Neville out of this. Your fight is with me!" Harry yelled.

"That's where you're wrong Mr. Potter, young Malfoy is a traitor," Voldemort said, "He will die, but first he will suffer. I will not give him the satisfaction of getting a quick painless death. Mr. Longbottom fought back, wounded many of my followers and nearly killed one of them. As for you, I don't think I need an explanation."

"What are you going to do to us?" 

"I will make your lives miserable; you will help me rise to power."

"I will never help you!"

"You forget; you have already helped me. Without you, I would have never gotten my body back," Voldemort informed Harry, "Why don't you get comfortable and get yourself acquainted with this cell. You will be here for a long time."

"_Crucio_," Voldemort said.

Harry felt a lot of pain for what seemed like hours. He could hear that Voldemort was laughing.

"_Finite incantatum_," Voldemort said and he ended the curse, "I do hope you enjoy your stay."

Voldemort turned and opened the door. Harry ran to reach the door but he was too late. Harry was gripping on the cell bars, he watched Voldemort open the door across the room.

Voldemort turned to the Death Eater standing guard.

"Take, the Malfoy boy. Do not hurt him in anyway. If Potter fights back, I give you permission to perform the cruciatus on him, but that is all. I also suggest getting help," Voldemort told the man.

"Yes master," the man said.

Voldemort turned and left. The man walked down the corridor to look for Avery and Nott. He was there in Hogsmeade when they tried to get the three boys. He saw the power that they possessed; he didn't want to end up like Goyle. It was the Longbottom boy that fought Goyle and nearly killed him. If Longbottom possessed the power to do that, what could Potter do? Wasn't he supposed to be one of the greatest wizards alive?

"Avery, Nott. I need help," the man said upon seeing the two.

"What is it Mcnair?" Avery asked.

"I need to get the Malfoy boy. I need help to ward of Potter."

Avery and Nott nodded. They knew what Mcnair was talking about. They were also scared with what they saw in Hogsmeade. How can three boys possess such power? They were amazed. They walked to the dungeon and opened the door. They saw Potter kneeling next to Malfoy.

Harry looked up upon hearing the door squeak open. He saw three hooded figures. He immediately stood up and held out his hand in front of him.

"What do you want?" Harry asked.

The three figures did not say anything; they started walked towards the cell. Harry turned to Neville.

"Neville, can you get up?" Neville nodded.

"Get behind me, your not strong enough to fight back," Harry told him.

Neville scuttled to get next to Draco. The death eaters were advancing. One of them took out their wand and pointed it towards the lock on the cell. He muttered and incantation and the door opened. 

"What do you want?" Harry yelled.

"Get out of the way boy," Mcnair ordered.

Although Harry hasn't heard that voice in a long time, he recognized him it as Mcnair the executioner. Harry stood on his ground.

"_Crucio_!"

Harry fell to his knees. He clenched his fist and bit on his lip. He had to fight the curse. Harry tasted blood on his tongue. His vision was getting foggy. Slowly he raised his hand towards the bed in the corner.

The death eaters were walking towards the boys. Suddenly, Nott saw a bed shooting towards them in the corner of his eye.

"Get out of the way!"

Nott pushed the other two out of the way. The bed hit the cell bars. Harry stood up, because Avery's concentration broke and he was free of the curse Harry held out his hand again. Avery was thrown to the opposite wall adjacent to the door. Mcnair fumbled for his wand, but he was also thrown to the wall. Nott pointed his wand towards Harry.

"_Crucio_!"

Harry fell to the floor, Nott rushed to Draco and he levitated the boy. Neville rammed into Nott, and Draco fell.

"_Crucio_!"

Both Avery and Mcnair were standing up wands pointed at Neville and Harry. Nott acted immediately, and levitated Draco. He hurried out of the dungeon not bothering to lock the cell, he just wanted to get out of there, Avery and Mcnair followed. Mcnair quickly said the incantation to lock the dungeon door.

"What do we do to the boy?" Avery asked.

They heard footsteps coming towards them; it was Crabbe.

"We heard a commotion. Master sent me here to see to you three. Did you get the boy?"

"What do you think this is?" Avery said angrily pointing to Draco. 

Crabbe saw the tattered figure. He looked at the three men and saw that they had trouble. They all had bruises and Avery was bleeding. Their robes were disheveled.

"Good, bring him to the room, Master wants to see him."

The four men walked up the stairs and along a few corridors. When they reached a big door they entered.

"Put him in the middle of the room," Voldemort told the men upon seeing them. Nott complied and Draco was in the middle of the room. The fireplace, the only light source, was blazing. It was casting a shadow around Draco.

"Heal him Nott," Voldemort ordered.

"Master?"

"Don't question me, heal him! He will die of the blood lost."

"Isn't that what we want Master?" Nott asked.

"Don't ask questions! Just do it!"

"Y-yes M-master," Nott stuttered obviously afraid.

Soon Draco stopped bleeding, but he was still pale. Nott also healed some off his bruises.

"Master, why don't we just kill him?"

"He will not die, not that way."

"Why not just perform the killing curse?" Crabbe asked.

"He is a traitor. Like I told Potter, he will die a painful death."

"Then why didn't we just leave him the way he was?"

"I still need him; there are still many things to do."

"What about Potter and Longbottom. Just kill them to get rid of the problem," Avery suggested.

"The fool Dumbledore performed a spell on Potter. I cannot touch him, but soon, soon we will kill him. I still need Longbottom. This was our mission, to capture that boy. Malfoy and Potter were just bonuses." 

_*_*_*_*_*

When Ginny woke up, she found that she was on her bed.

"You're finally awake," Ron said.

Ginny was surprised to hear him; he was beside her bed sitting on a chair.

"Ron, I had the weirdest dream. We were in Hogsmeade and Fred and George bought a pink house. Then the death eaters came."

"Ginny, that was not a dream," Ron informed her.

"What? What happened, the last thing I remembered was Draco yelling at me to leave," Ginny said, "Where is Draco? I want to see Draco."

"Ginny."

"Ron, where is Draco?" Ginny asked getting worried.

"Ginny, the Death Eaters took him. They also took Harry and Neville."

"What! Is anybody doing anything?"

"Dumbledore already informed the Ministry. Everything was chaotic. Nobody knows how the Death Eaters got in Hogsmeade. Many people were injured."

"Is everybody all right? What about Fred and George?"

"They're fine, just a few scratches. Thankfully nobody was fatally wounded. Dumbledore said that they're main objective was to get Harry."

"Harry? Why did they take Draco and Neville?"

"I don't know."

Ginny became silent, she didn't know why but she wasn't worried about Harry. She knew that she had to, but she wasn't. How many times had Harry survived Voldemort's attempts to kill him? Voldemort has tried to kill Harry every year and has failed. She was so caught up in being worried in Draco, that she forgot all about Neville.

"Ginny are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"Ginny…"

"I said I'm fine!" Ginny yelled. She immediately wanted to take it back, Ron looked hurt.

"I'm sorry Ron."

"It's okay. I wish I could say I know how you feel, but I don't."

Ron got up to leave but Ginny got up and hugged him.

"I'm sorry Ron, I didn't mean to snap at you."

Ron hugged her back, "It's all right Gin."

"I just can't help but worry about Draco."

"It's already nine, you missed dinner. Are you hungry?" Ron asked trying to change the subject.

"No."

"Then why don't you go back to sleep. Maybe things will be better tomorrow." Ginny nodded and pulled her blanket up. Ron got up and turned to leave.

"Ron, can you stay with me? Until I fall asleep."

Ron smiled and sat back down on the chair.

"Can you sing for me?"

"Sing?"

"Yes, sing. You used to sing me to sleep all the time when we were little. Why did you stop?"

"I thought that you hated my singing. Besides, Fred and George would make fun of me all the time. I hated that."

"I loved your singing. How can you think otherwise? Don't let Fred and George put you down. They're just jealous."

Ron chuckled at her reply.

"I'm telling the truth. Have you heard those two sing?"

"Unfortunately yes."

"Ron, this is your talent, expose it. I'm sure Hermione would be taken with your voice."

Ron turned red at this, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on Ron, I know how you feel about Hermione. Admit it you like her."

"No, I don't like her."

"Ron, you like her and you know it."

"I don't like Hermione. I love her." Ginny became silent at that. Wow was the only response she could come up with.

"I know. I didn't find out until this summer. I was going to tell her too."

"Why don't you tell her now?"

"What am I supposed to say to her? Hermione, I love you, please go out with me? She'll laugh in my face," Ron informed her.

"How do you know? What if she feels the same way about you? You'll never know unless you tell her," Ginny explained.

"What if she just thinks of me just as a friend. This kind of thing could ruin our friendship."

"Ron, if I gave Draco a chance. Hermione will give you a chance."

"You think so?" Ron asked happily.

"Yes, I'm a girl I know how they think. Besides, you're a nice guy and you look okay…"

"Okay?"

"Well compared to Draco…"

"So now you're comparing me to Malfoy?"

"Well you asked, as I was saying, you have a great personality. You're the best friend of Harry Potter…"

"Hermione is Harry's best friend too," Ron countered.

"Will you please stop interrupting me. You know that's one thing girls hate, to be interrupted when they're talking. What else was I going to say? Now I forgot," Ginny said frowning.

"Do you really think I have a chance with Hermione?" Ron inquired.

Ginny smiled, "Yes, I think you have a big chance. You're only flaw is your temper."

"The Weasley temper. Do you think I should tell Hermione my feelings?"

"Of course, this kind of thing shouldn't wait. Why don't you tell her now, I'm sure she's still awake," Ginny informed him.

"I still need to write a speech. It has to be perfect, I can't just go up to her and tell her," Ron answered, "Enough talking, go to sleep."

"First start singing."

"No."

"Pretty please…" Ginny made a pouting face.

"Fine." Ron started clearing his throat.

"Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, dooo," Ron said warming up.

Ginny was laughing.

"Hey, I don't hear you singing," Ron said defending himself.

Ginny covered her mouth with a hand to muffle her laughter. Ron glared at her before he started to sing in his low baritone voice. Ginny became quiet, captivated by his voice. Ron was singing a lullaby that they're mother used to sing to them when they were little. Ginny closed her eyes, and continued to listen to Ron. Ginny wondered why Ron never sang in public, he had such a nice voice. Nice wasn't even good enough of a word to describe his singing. Whenever Ginny heard him sing, she would forget all her problems and all the tension would just disappear. Even when he was younger, their father would come home and ask him to sing for him. Arthur would relax upon hearing the sweet, melodious voice of his son. Ron was the only Weasley child that could sing.

Ginny fell asleep quickly after Ron started singing. When Ron heard a light snoring from his sister, he stopped. Ron smiled and he hoped that he helped Ginny somehow. He kissed her on the forehead.

"Night, Ginny."

Ron got up and left her room. He walked down the stairs. Meanwhile in the next room, the door was slightly ajar.

"Good night Ron," Hermione whispered.

__

-*Dream Sequence*-

"Good morning Lord Henry."

"Good morning Gwenivere."

It was a nice sunny day at the manor. Most of the workers have come to

appreciate the coming of Darien. He has changed so many things; the children especially loved him. While the women and men worked, Darien would play various games with the children. Occasionally he would bring his violin and play joyful songs. He was also loved because many thought that he was kind. About a week after Darien gave Lazarus food the workers found a building built. Darien explained that the building would serve breakfast, lunch and dinner to those who go there.

"Gwenivere, is everything all right?"

"Yes, Lord Henry."

"Is there anything the workers need? Is there anything that you need?"

Gwenivere was starting to feel uncomfortable around the man. Henry was always around her, he was kind, but sometime Gwenivere thought that he was too kind.

"I do not need anything Lord Henry."

"Gwenivere, we need help inside the manor building. I was wondering if you would like to take the job."

"What kind of help milord?"

"Servant help. One of our servants recently died of old age, and Darien is looking for more help."

"Lord Darien?" Gwenivere asked. At first she hated the man, but her feelings started to change. She saw that he cared for the people that worked in the manor and in the fields. Sometimes when she is walking she would see him playing with the children. The man playing with the children looked happy; he was not the same person she first met.

"If you decide to take the job you will live inside the manor. You can always visit your family if you want," Henry informed her, "You will also be paid for your servitude."

"My I talk with my family about this?"

*_*_*_*

"You, work in the manor?" Reynold asked his sister.

"Yes Reynold."

"You cannot work there. Those…those people are dangerous. Especially Lord Darien."

"Reynold, we need the silver. They are willing to pay silver! Think of how this is going to help us. Besides, this is only temporary until Lord Darien finds a permanent replacement."

"Father, say something," Reynold pleaded with Auctor.

"Gwenivere, do you know what you are doing?" Auctor asked his daughter.

"Yes father, I am doing this for us. Like I have said this is only temporary."

"Then I do not have any objections."

"But father."

Auctor raised a hand at Reynold to silence him.

"Let Gwenivere do as she pleases."

Reynold nodded his head. Gwenivere left the house to tell Henry she will accept. Reynold turned to his father.

"This will do her good. If she lives in the same house as those snakes, she will see their true behavior. She was young and did not know what Salazar did to our family; she will see that his nephew is the same as him. If you are worried about her safety, I have watched Lord Henry. I have seen that he cares for Gwenivere, he will make sure no harm comes to her," Auctor told Reynold.

Auctor looked out the window and saw his only daughter talking to Henry. He hoped that his daughter will be safe in the manor and that she will see the evils of the Slytherins.

*_*_*_*_

Henry was walking towards the manor with a smile on his face. Gwenivere has accepted his offer for the job. He hoped that he would be able to win her heart. He walked in the library and saw Darien writing something on a piece of parchment.

"Good afternoon Darien," Henry greeted.

Darien looked up, "Good afternoon, what are you doing here? Is there something you need to tell me?"

"I found someone."

Darien smiled, "All ready? How did you do it so quickly? Who did you get?"

"Gwenivere," Henry answered happily.

Darien's smile turned into a scowl, "What did you say?"

"Gwenivere Williams has accepted my offer to work here."

"Are you insane!" Darien yelled. He was walking towards Henry, "What did you do? You asked a muggle! Did you hear me? A muggle!"

"I do not see what is wrong. You go into the village everyday and play with muggle children. You have even given food to the people."

"Of course I have given food to them, how would people work if they are

starving? She is a muggle. She will be the first to set foot in this

household. If uncle finds out about her he will hurt you and me for allowing her to come!"

"It is not like I have invited her for tea. She will work, a muggle worker is just as good as a squib," Henry countered.

All the servants in the manor were squibs, but there were of magical blood.

"Did you just hear yourself? She does not know about magic. How am I to work trying to hide everything I do from the girl?"

"Give her a chance Darien. Please, I am begging you to let her come here."

"What do you feel for her? Is this the reason you have asked her here?"

"Yes, please Darien. I want to show her that…I…I admit I have feeling for the girl."

"I have warned you Henry how many times. Why do you still ignore me? Stay away from the girl! If you really have feelings for her, fine, let her come. Then you will see that she is not worth losing everything. She is not worth losing everything you have worked for."

Darien gathered up his parchments and left Henry.

"She is worth it. She is worth everything. You will see Darien. You will see."

*_*_*_*_

Gwenivere was led into a room in the lower floor of the manor.

"This is where you will be staying," Henry explained.

Gwenivere stepped into the room and surveyed her surroundings. There was an elegant bed in the left corner. She saw a window across the room; she walked towards it. She was left breathless at the view.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

She was startled at the voice behind her.

"It is Lord Henry," Gwenivere answered.

The view was of the lake behind the manor. The sunset shining on the lake was beautiful.

"When Darien and I were little, we would play in a lake like that. I still remember the first time I went into the lake. I nearly drowned. Darien saved me; apparently he loved swimming, still does. You might find him bathing in the lake, when he does, just close the curtains," Henry informed her.

Henry turned and walked towards the door, "You're clothing will be provided. If you need anymore help, Clarissa is in the room next to this, she will be more than happy to help you. I'm afraid she is not here today; you can also find help in the kitchen. It is down the hall to your left."

Henry left the room leaving Gwenivere alone. Gwenivere sat on the bed. Soon she heard a voice.

"Clarissa, Clarissa where are you?"

Gwenivere recognized that voice, Lord Darien. Gwenivere walked out the door and collided with Darien. Darien caught her so she will not fall.

"You," Darien said. He was not expecting her to come so soon.

Gwenivere thought that he sounded a bit rude, but she chose to ignore it. Darien let go of her.

"I am sorry milord. Clarissa is not here today," Gwenivere informed him.

"Where is she?"

"Lord Henry informed me she is not here today," Gwenivere answered.

"Is that so? Well, what are you staring at?"

"Nothing milord," Gwenivere answered.

Gwenivere was again left alone when Darien walked away from her.

*_*_*_*_

When Gwenivere woke up the next day, she was surprised to find her self inside a blanket. It occurred to her that she was now living in the manor. She got up and dressed in her new clothes. She opened the curtain and opened the window to air the room. Then she turned red, in the lake was Darien swimming. When Gwenivere saw his bare chest; she immediately turned around. Gwenivere could not believe that she just saw Darien almost naked. She closed the curtains of the window and she left her room. Gwenivere walked to the kitchen to see if she had any work. The other servants immediately greeted her.

"Good morning, you must be the new person here. Lord Henry has told us about you. Why don't you eat some breakfast, we are going to serve the lady and lords when Lord Darien returns from his morning bathe."

Gwenivere nodded and sat next to Miranda, one of the servants she met the day before. Together they ate breakfast. Of all the servants, Gwenivere was the youngest. Most of the servants have worked for the Slytherins for ages and have been loyal to them.

"Gwenivere is your name, is it not?" One of the kitchen people asked.

"Yes it is."

"You are going to serve breakfast today," the person informed Gwenivere.

Gwenivere merely nodded. Justina, another servant came into the kitchen to announce that breakfast is going to start. Miranda got up and told Gwenivere to do the same. Gwenivere was given soup to serve. When Gwenivere left the kitchen, every one started to talk.

"Is she the one?" Justina asked.

"Yes, she is the one that will help Lord Darien," another kitchen help answered.

"But she is a muggle."

"Isn't that a sign? She is the first muggle to set foot in this household. There is bound to be changes. She is needed to change Darien. Salazar has corrupted the boy with his views of muggles. I know she is the one to help him, she is our only chance."

The women stopped talking when Gwenivere went back into the kitchen. 

Gwenivere's face looked red.

"What is the matter?" Justina asked.

Miranda started laughing.

"It seems that Gwenivere has witnessed Lord Darien's morning ritual," Clarissa answered.

Everybody looked at Gwenivere questionably.

"I am sorry. When I woke in the morning I saw him in the lake. My room's window is over the lake," Gwenivere tried to explain.

At that everybody understood what happened. They knew about Darien's morning swim, they assumed that Gwenivere saw him. Darien must have noticed Gwenivere watching him and he made a comment to her during breakfast.

"What do you think of Darien?" Justina asked, "Is he handsome to you?"

Gwenivere looked like she didn't want to answer. Gwenivere wondered why Justina did not address him properly; Darien made it clear that is what he wants. Justina saw her questioning face.

"I have helped raise Darien since he was a baby," Justina explained, "He does not mind people that he cares for to address him properly. Of course, around guest we have to do so."

"Lord Darien is like a son to all of us. We have helped raise him until he turned ten. Lord Salazar took him when he reached that age," Clarissa added.

"How can you stand someone as rude as him?" Gwenivere asked.

Everyone went quiet at this.

"What do you think of Lord Darien?" Clarissa asked her, "Answer truthfully, no one outside this room will hear what you are about to say."

"At first I thought that he was rude and he was the same as his uncle,"

Gwenivere answered.

"What do you know of Lord Salazar?" Miranda inquired.

"My father does not like the man. Everyone that I know has only bad things to say of him. Lord Darien said things when he first came that made the workers uneasy around him. As the days went by, I saw that he is different from everything my father says."

"Darien is a kind man, he has matured greatly through the years. He cares about all the workers here. Once you get to know him, you will see what he is really like. If you become his friend he will remain loyal to until the end. He is the way he is because he has suffered through many things," Justina explained.

"How has he suffered? These nobles lead a better life than us, the peasants. While they eat rich food and sleep in rooms with fireplaces we have to scourge for sticks just to light a fire. How can someone like him suffer," Gwenivere questioned.

Justina's face turned cold, "There are many things you do not know about the life those people in that room lead."

Justina was referring to Darien, Henry and Hermia. She got the next course for breakfast and left the kitchen.

"Do not mind her. She cares for those people like her own children. They are her only family," Miranda explained.

"I am sorry. It is hard to imagine nobles leading such a hard life," Gwenivere explained.

"Even if it is hard to imagine, it is the truth. Not everyone could escape problems."

*End of Dream Sequence*

Harry was sitting on the floor on the outside of the dungeon cell. He didn't know how long he has been sitting wondering what happened to Draco. He wondered what Voldemort was referring to when he said Draco was a traitor. It didn't occur to Harry that Draco refused the Dark Lords bidding. 

Harry was blaming himself for getting Neville involved in all of this. Neville probably wouldn't have been captured if he didn't help him. If something should happen to Neville, Harry didn't know what he would do.

Harry stood up; he heard footsteps coming down the dungeon. The door opened and three hooded figures came in. They threw a body inside and quickly left and locked the door. Harry immediately recognized the body as Draco and rushed to his side. Neville also got up and went to Draco.

"Is he all right?" Neville asked.

"I'm not sure," Harry answered.

Harry didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure if it was safe to move Draco.

"We have to get him off the floor, it's freezing cold on there. If he stays on the floor he could get sick," Neville informed Harry.

"Fine, help me move him. I can still use magic, I'll move him to the bed."

The bed was amazingly still in one piece. Harry concentrated and held his right hand in front of Draco. Soon, Draco was levitating and started moving towards the cell. Once Draco was on the bed, Harry turned to Neville.

"He was healed," Harry replied bluntly.

"What do you mean?"

"He wasn't bleeding."

"That could mean anything. The wound probably stopped bleeding," Neville replied.

"Do you see the blood in that corner?" Harry asked pointing to where he first saw Draco.

"Yes, but… Maybe you-know-who doesn't want him to die yet. You heard him, he is going to make us suffer," Neville was starting to shake.

"But why would he heal Draco?"

*_*_*_*_

The next day Harry was again sitting on the floor in front of the dungeon door. The door opened and a girl walked in. Harry was surprised to see someone his age coming in the dungeon. He got up and held out his hand in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

The girl looked at him in the eye. Harry was surprised to see the resemblance between her and Draco. She had the same gray eyes as Draco and pale skin; she could almost pass as his twin. Their only difference is their hair; she had brown hair whilst Draco had blonde hair.

"I am here to bring food," she answered as if it was the most obvious thing to say. She turned around and brought a tray inside.

"Do you think that we're stupid enough to eat anything you Death Eaters give us?" Harry asked.

"I am not one of them."

"Then what are you? What are you doing here?"

"You should eat. Keep your strength up," she said changing the subject.

"I would never touch that stuff, there's probably poison there," Harry pointed out.

"If they wanted to kill you, they wouldn't resort to poison. Poison weakens the nerves and body causing a painless death. If they wanted to kill you they would do it directly. If you want me to prove it, I would eat with you," she told him.

"I don't trust you." Harry replied.

"I'm not asking you to."

"Just eat the food Potter," said a voice.

"You're awake?" Harry asked.

Draco slowly got up. Harry was immediately by his side. Harry put out a hand to help Draco, but Draco pushed his hand away.

"I don't need help to get up. I can to it myself," Draco said arrogantly. 

"You and your pride."

"What is for breakfast?" Draco asked.

"What do you think you're doing?" Harry asked, "You're accepting food from someone you barely know, for all we know she's a Death Eater."

"You know, you made the same assumption for me as well. She is not a Death Eater, believe her."

"Hump, I'll believe her when Voldemort wears a pink tutu, sings a song of the Bee gees and declares his love to McGonagall."

"That's a lot of things for Voldie to do. Potter do I have to force you to eat? If you don't eat, you'll eventually die. What would Dumbledore say to me now? Do you know how much hate mail I could receive for letting you die? You would cause Ginny to feel badly or something."

Harry looked at Draco in the eye when he brought up Ginny. What exactly did Malfoy feel for Ginny?

"Draco, please eat, even if your friend doesn't," the girl asked Draco.

Draco got off the bed and walked towards the girl. Neville, who was sitting in the corner, also got up. Harry stared at Draco; did the girl and him know each other? Draco sat down on the floor and the girl sat next to him. What did Malfoy think he was doing? Did he care if he died? Harry's eyes followed Neville's figure walking towards Draco. Neville sat next to Draco when he reached him. Harry stared at the girl. She was not very beautiful; Harry has seen better-looking girls in school. He thought that she looked somewhat like a servant, due to her tattered clothes. Harry wondered if she was a witch. If

she was a witch why isn't she going to Hogwarts? The girl suddenly looked up and caught his eyes. Harry was surprised to see hurt and something else. Harry couldn't figure out what else she was feeling.

The door suddenly opened and everybody got to his or her feet. The figure that walked in was not wearing a hood; it was Mcnair. Mcnair figured that Potter already knew who he was so he didn't bother pulling up the hood. His eyes surveyed the room, when his gaze fell upon the girl he started walking towards her.

"What are you still doing here?" Mcnair yelled.

Draco got in front of the girl to protect her. He held out his hand in front of him.

"Draco, I'll be fine. Do not worry about me," the girl assured Draco. She stepped around him and started walking away. Draco reached to hold her back. The girl looked up at him.

"Draco," the girl said pleading with him to let her go. Draco complied and the girl left the dungeon. Mcnair followed the girl out and locked the door. Draco was standing where he was, staring at the door.

"Who was she Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"So, we're back to last names?'

"Don't change the subject, who was she?"

"Why would you want to know, she's just another Death Eater right?"

Harry was getting annoyed; he started walking towards Draco.

"What are you going to do Potter? Fight me just to get her name? Her name wouldn't really matter now, we probably wouldn't even see her tomorrow."

"What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you see? She's practically a slave to Voldemort. She's a muggle!"

Harry was surprised to hear that news. A muggle?

"What? Surprised? Didn't you know that Death Eaters did this during Voldemort last reign? They would kill muggle families and if they like someone they would use them. Usually it wasn't for servitude. You had no right what so ever to call her a Death Eater. She didn't even do anything to you and you called her one of the people that she hates most. Voldemort must really like her so much to keep her alive this long. She has nobody and you have to come along and add to her problems."

"I didn't think…" Harry started.

"That's right you didn't think. That's one of the Gryffindor traits I hate so much. All you ever do is jump to conclusion and you don't even bother to listen to the other side!"

"Hey you don't have the right to say…"

"It's the truth! All you Gryffindors do that, even Ginny. Gryffindors think that they're all high and mighty. And you…"

"What about me?" Harry interjected. 

"You think the whole world revolves around you."

"I do not."

"Hahaha. You think that whenever someone gets hurt it's your fault. When Diggory died you blamed yourself and started acting so gloomy. In the end, you affected everybody over something you had no control over. You push away people thinking you'll hurt them and you're being selfish. You think that all the problems in the world is because of you, reality check Potter, many of these problems occurred before you were even born, including the problem with Voldemort. Whether or not you were involved, he would have risen up anyway."

Harry realized that everything Malfoy said was true. He has blamed himself over many things. He has pushed his friends away claiming that Voldemort would come after them for being close to him. Harry realized that Draco was right, he was being selfish.

"Potter, my whole point is that you have to learn to trust people."

"What about you? From what I've heard you don't even trust Ginny and she's you're girlfriend," Harry retorted.

"The thing between Ginny and me is none of your concern."

"See, you never talk to anybody about yourself. You shouldn't be preaching about trust, when you yourself, don't practice it."

"There are many things that Ginny needn't to know."

"Really?"

"What do you want to know Potter? Huh! What do you want to know?" Draco yelled.

"Why did Voldemort call you a traitor?"

Draco looked at Harry in surprise. How did Potter find out about that. Draco's eyes narrowed at Harry.

"Fine, if you want to know, I'll tell you."

A/N: I'm sorry to leave another cliffy, but this chapter was getting too long. Thank you to all my reviewers for your comments. I forgot to say something, Harry was not the one spying on Draco, nor was he the person that overheard Draco and Hermione talking in the DADA room. I know that the violin wasn't invented in the early 1000's, but I needed Darien to play some sort of instrument. Let's just pretend that it was a wizard instrument, way before the muggles started playing it.

Let's play a game. It's not really a game, but it involves everyone that's reading this story. I need a name for the girl that brought the food to the dungeon. I just want to get readers involved somehow. The girl isn't really a big character in this story, she probably wouldn't even be seen after the gang escapes Voldemort. If you want more background about her, she's a childhood friend of Draco. I just need a first name, nothing to fancy.

Next chapter: Draco tells his story to Harry.


	15. Chapter 13A: Harry's First Love

Disclaimer: J.K Rowlings owns all the characters and Hogwarts.

A/N: I am so sorry for the long delay. I don't think I have a good excuse. This is only half of the chapter. It's supposed to focus on Harry. The Draco/Ginny stuff will happen after this. Again, I'm sorry for taking so long. Oh yeah, I chose Blazefury's suggestion for the girl's name. You guys had a lot of great names.

Chapter 13 A: Harry's First Love.

"Do you want me to get straight to the point?" Draco asked.

"Will you leave out a lot of information?"

Harry was curious about what happened to Draco. He knew he should mind his own business, but he didn't care.

"You know, you really should mind your own business," Draco commented, he paused, "It started on the day of my initiation. I can't remember the exact date."

"What initiation?" Harry inquired. Draco looked up and Harry saw his pained expression. Whatever happened that day must have caused him a lot of pain. Draco pulled up the sleeve of his left arm. Harry and Neville stared in shock.

"Does this answer your question? Does it Potter?" Draco yelled.

"You're a Death Eater?" Harry asked in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Harry had many questions to ask Draco. Did Dumbledore know, was one of the main questions he was thinking about.

"For the thousandth time, no! You've seen the Dark Mark before, haven't you?" Draco hissed. He was getting annoyed at the boy, but he knew it was his fault. He was the one that started talking.

"I've seen it. I saw it at the Quidditch world cup," Harry answered.

"My dark mark isn't complete. It's missing the snake."

Harry looked at the mark more closely. He could see that Draco was right. Harry could clearly picture the hideous mark. The events in the Quidditch World Cup cannot be easily forgotten.

"What happened?" Neville asked. Draco almost forgot that Neville was standing next to him. Neville was just as curious as Harry as to what happened to Draco. He also wanted to find out if Draco would harm Ginny. Ginny was important to Neville. He even thought that he loved the girl. When he found out that Malfoy and Ginny were dating, his heart broke. Secretly Neville disliked Draco, who didn't?

"Only one person could put the mark on someone, Voldemort."

Neville flinched at the name. Harry and Draco chose to ignore it.

"The mark is given during a ceremony. Before Voldemort could finish giving me the mark, I pulled away. I couldn't be one of those monsters. You'll probably say I used to worship those people."

"You used to revere them," Harry added, "What made you change? Don't say Ginny, because I don't think you had feelings for her then."

Harry was worried about her. Before his fifth year Harry felt uncomfortable around the girl. He knew her crush for him but he ignored her. He only thought of her as a sister, beside, he couldn't date his best friend's sister. He gotten closer to Ginny since the start of the school year, now she was one of his best friends.

"I've never changed Potter. I wasn't going to say Ginny either. The only reason I supported the Death Eaters was to protect my mum."

"What does you mum have to do with this?" Harry asked.

"Everything, my mum was everything to me. Everything I did was for her. My father was never there for me. My mum, she couldn't do anything. She was like a lifeless puppet, she would snap out of it for short periods of time. Those periods of time were my most joyful ones. As quickly as they came, they were gone. Father would beat her to punish me. Never once did he lay a finger on me. He would hurt other people to get to me. She was the only person to tell me that she loved me. Everyone else hated me."

Harry became silent at that. He never knew this about Draco, he doubt that Ginny knew either. He always figured that Draco and his father got along well. He remembered all the times Draco would say that if something would happen to him, he would tell his father.

"Is that why Voldemort called you a traitor? You turned your back on him?" Harry asked deciding to stick to the subject.

"Yes."

"Ginny doesn't know about this, does she?"

"She doesn't know any of this Potter. I don't know whether to tell her or not. What if she leaves me because of this?" Draco asked. He truly was worried that Ginny will decide he's not worth it and leave.

"If you truly love her, tell her," Neville told Draco. He was mad at Draco for keeping all of this to himself. Hermione probably knew more about Draco than Ginny, he was sure of that.

"I said if you truly love her, it's only right to tell her. You shouldn't be playing with people."

"What did you say?" Draco asked.

Harry was confused. What did Neville just say? His head started hurting with all this information.

"Nothing," Neville answered.

"No, you said something about playing with people. Why did you say that?" Draco asked.

"I know about you and Hermione," Neville answered.

"There's nothing going on between Malfoy and Hermione. Hermione wouldn't come within a ten foot radius from him," Harry informed him. All Harry knew was that Hermione and Draco hated each other. Ginny would tell him that she was annoyed with their fights. They would quarrel about the smallest things, like using red colored ink in notes.

"That's not true," Neville said.

Draco didn't know what to say. Hermione made sure that no one followed her whenever they meet.

"I heard you. I heard you and Hermione," Neville squeaked.

Harry was beginning to wonder what Neville was talking about. Harry looked at Draco who looked quite shocked.

"What did you hear Neville?" Draco asked while advancing on the boy, "What did you hear?"

Harry went in front of Draco to stop him. He didn't want a fight, they were already prisoners and they should be working together.

"What is Neville talking about?" Harry inquired.

Draco stared at Harry in the eye.

"Move Potter."

"No. What is Neville talking about?"

"Draco and Hermione are seeing each other behind everyone's back," Neville squeaked.

Harry turned around at this; he was staring at Neville incredulously. Draco froze on the spot.

Suddenly the door to the dungeon opened. A dozen Death Eaters came in the room.

"Stupefy*!"

The world suddenly became dark to the three boys as they fell to the ground, unconscious.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Harry heard water dripping beside him. He felt water dripping besides him and then it was on his forehead. He could sense someone next to him. Harry reached out and grabbed the arm of the person. hen Harry opened his eyes, everything was blurry.

"Where are my glasses?"

"Here," the person said, giving it to him.

He put on his glasses, and he found himself staring at the girl from the day before. Harry's heart started beating quickly which caused him to put a hand over his heart. The last time he felt like this was when he was around Cho.

"Oh my gosh, no. It can't happen again," he said.

"Is something the matter?" the girl asked.

"N-no," Harry answered. He tried to get up, but the girl stopped him by putting a hand on his chest.

"Don't get up too quickly, or else you'll get a headache."

Harry ignored her and got up anyway. He immediately got dizzy and fell back down. His head started to throb and he Harry crouched on the bed.

"I told you. Here, drink this. It should help," the girl told him. She helped get him into a sitting position. She took Harry's hands and wrapped them around the warm cup. Harry couldn't help but stare at her gray eyes as she helped bring the cup to his lips. After Harry drank the contents of the cup he started to feel better. The girl took the cup from him and got up to leave, but Harry grabbed her hand and she turned around to face him.

"You never told me your name."

"Elena, my name is Elena"

Suddenly, the door opened and Neville was thrown in the dungeon. Elena put was she was holding on the ground and she rushed to Neville's side. She put one of Neville's arms around her shoulder and she helped him get to his feet. Harry moved and Neville sat on the space Harry made on the bed.

"Thank you Elena. It's good that you're finally awake Harry," Neville said.

"How long have I been out?"

"A week," Elena answered.

"A week?" Harry asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"Yeah, a week. You had a fever, Elena has been taking care of you ever since," Neville explained.

Harry turned to look at Elena, "You've been taking care of me?"

"I've been ordered to."

Harry's heart fell at this. He was disappointed with her answer.

"What was I expecting?" he thought.

"Where's Malfoy?" Harry asked. He looked around the dungeon and couldn't find a trace of Draco.

"They have taken him," Elena answered, "They have been taking Neville and Draco everyday. You can hear the shouts of pain in this room."

Elena turned to Neville and said something to him. Neville nodded and pulled off his shirt. Harry was surprised to see the amount of bruises on the boy's body. He wanted to know what happened while he was out.

"Can you bear the pain?" Elena asked Neville. Neville gave Elena a smile.

"Sure I can."

"I've been given permission to go into the village. I can get som pain killer if you need it."

"No thanks. It will probably get worse after the pain killer wears off," Neville commented.

"Did you break any bones? Are you bleeding?" Elena asked.

"I'm fine mum," Neville said sarcastically. Elena frowned at him. Harry felt a surge of jealousy going through him. It seemed that Elena and Neville have gotten close this past week. The door opened and two Death Eaters dragged Draco into the room.

"Girl, get this boy," a Death Eater said.

Elena walked towards the Death Eaters. When she reached them, they gave Draco to her. Neville rushed over to Elena to help her once the Death Eaters left.

"Harry, you should be strong enough to stand up. We need to put Draco on the bed," Elena told him. Harry complied and got off the bed. Elena and Neville laid Draco on the bed. Elena then started to unbutton Draco's shirt.

"He's bleeding again. He'll die if he loses any more blood."

"What can I do?" Neville asked.

"Watch over him. I'll be back." At that Elena gathered her things and left.

Harry looked down on the floor. He could not believe that he was having feelings for Elena; he didn't even get over Cho. Harry's love life has been… well… none existent. The year has been hard for him. Harry felt as if he ruined his crush's life. He has watched Cho from afar and he saw that she was miserable. He felt that it was his entire fault. Many have told him what happened to Cedric was inevitable. Yet, he couldn't help feeling guilty.

"Harry, are you all right?" Neville asked.

Harry looked up at Neville, "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, beside the fact that you've been staring at the ground for five minutes I don't see why I should ask."

Harry looked at Neville. He has been acting differently. The way he spoke was different from last week. Neville also looked as if he aged many years, and even his eyes looked tired.

"Neville, what happened this past week?" Harry asked.

Before Neville could answer, Elena came back. She immediately attended to Draco. Harry watched her clean Draco's wounds. She worked as if she has been doing this for some time. Harry took in her features. She had light brown hair and pale skin. Harry thought that she has gained some color from the last time he saw her. From where he was standing he could see her calloused hands. He looked at his own hands. Harry, who did nothing but manual labor at the Dursley, could see that she has done more work than he could ever do.

"I just hope that they don't take him again," Elena said after twenty minutes.

As soon as she got up, she felt dizzy. Harry caught her before she fell.

"Thank you," Elena told Harry.

"Are you tired?"

"I am a bit."

Elena was now holding onto Harry's shirt to stay standing. Harry tightened his hold around her. Elena looked up at his face. Harry was so mesmerized that he couldn't look away.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" Harry whispered.

"Excuse me?" Elena was confused.

Harry shook his head, "Um, nothing."

"Can you help me sit on the floor? I'm afraid there is nowhere else to sit down. I really do need to ask Tom for more furniture."

"What did you say?" Harry asked. Did he just hear her say Tom? Surely it can't be Tom Riddle.

"Can you help me sit on the floor?" Elena repeated.

"No, after that. The part about Tom, were you talking about Voldemort?"

"Yes I was. You of all people should know that Tom Riddle and Voldemort are the same. Please help me sit down, I am getting tired."

Harry wanted to ask more questions, but he was interrupted.

"Potter, help the girl sit down. Do you know how many times she asked you to do so?" Draco said, "Good-morning Elena, or is it evening?"

After Harry helped Elena, he turned to Draco.

"You know Malfoy, you shouldn't be doing that," Harry stated.

"Doing what?" Draco asked acting as if he didn't know what Harry was talking about.

"Pretending that you're asleep and listening to other's conversation," Harry answered.

"If you don't want me to listen, then talk softer. You guys talk as if you're across a football field."

Harry was wondering how Draco knew about football. Wasn't football a muggle sport?

Draco got up from the bed. Elena looked worried when he did this to which Draco noticed.

"Don't worry Elena. I feel all fine and dandy," Draco assured her, "You're the one that should be on this bed, not me."

Draco went to Elena, picked her up and she put her arms around his neck. Harry stared stared at the two. When Draco laid Elena on the bed, he went on his knees next to her and held her hand.

"You're hot. Are you sick?"

"You should be tired and a bit weak you know," Elena commented, she closed her eyes, "Oh, what I would give for Tylenol."

Draco chuckled and put a hand on her forehead, he felt that she was burning.

"You're running a fever," Draco told her, "You are going to stay on this bed until you get better. We will sleep on the floor in the sleeping bags you got us."

"But Draco."

"No buts. You stay on that bed until you get better."

Neville crossed his arms and watched this scene with amusement. Harry on the other hand didn't know what to think.

"Get some rest, go to sleep. You will feel a little better by tomorrow," Draco said.

Elena nodded and complied. Draco kissed her on the forehead.

"Night, Lena," Draco whispered.

"Night, Drake."

Elena quickly fell asleep. Draco got up and when he turned around he was surprised to see Harry glaring at him.

"Is something wrong?" Draco asked.

"It seems that Harry's jealous," Neville answered.

"Jealous?" Draco asked confused. Then he turned to Elena and it hit him, "You like Elena? Wait a minute don't answer that. What did you say a few minutes ago? Do you believe in love at first sight?"

Harry turned red at this. Neville was laughing hard and Draco was smirking at Harry. He never thought that Harry would fall for his childhood friend. He always figured that Harry would end up with Hermione.

"This is not funny," Harry, retorted, "What is going on between you and Elena."

"You know that sounds familiar, just replace Elena with Hermione and you'll hear exactly what Neville asked me. I'll give you the same answer I gave him, nothing. Elena and I are just friends. I've known her since we were little," Draco answered.

"I almost forgot about you and Hermione," Harry said, "What happened?"

"Nothing," Draco answered.

"Harry's right. You still didn't explain what happened in the DADA room," Neville added.

"You never told me what you heard," Draco countered.

"I heard everything you told Hermione. You have no feelings for Ginny," Neville answered, "You're just using her."

"What?" Harry asked disbelievingly.

"You heard me Harry, Draco is just using Ginny," Neville said with malice in his voice.

"Is that true?" Harry asked.

Draco narrowed his eyes at Neville, "Yes."

Harry yelled and threw his self at Draco. He punched Draco in the eye and now he had his hands around Draco's neck.

"How dare you do that to Ginny!" Harry yelled.

"Shut up Potter, some people are sleeping," Draco hissed.

Harry looked over to Elena. His grip tightened, but Draco made no attempt to struggle free.

"I never meant to hurt Ginny. I was not planning on using her. You don't even know the whole story and you're all ready set on killing me."

"What else is there to know?" Harry hissed. He will be doing a favor to the Weasley if he hurts Draco.

"If I didn't do this, Hermione and her aunt will have my head. I'm also doing this for someone else to help free from a curse."

"Hermione doesn't have an aunt."

"That shows how much you know about her," Draco countered.

"What are you insinuating?" Neville asked.

"There are many things that you don't know and yet you jump to conclusions. Hermione and I… there is nothing going on between us. Ginny knows about her."

"Ginny knows?" Neville asked.

"Ask Potter, he knows."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"You really shouldn't spy on people Potter, especially if those people are Death Eaters, because they will kill you the second they find you. You should know that even though you are wearing your invisibility cloak it doesn't mean that it will also hide your shadow. I saw a shadow and there was no one there. So I thought, who in the school has an invisibility cloak? I only knew one person, you. Then when Ginny and I were under the tree, I saw you take off the cloak. Get off me Potter; you're cutting off my oxygen. I don't think Elena would

appreciate it if you kill me."

Harry got off Draco. Draco had trouble getting up; he massaged his neck, which was sore. He was sure that tomorrow he would have bruises.

"Don't bring Elena into this."

"So you do have feelings for her," Draco said.

Harry glared at Draco; Draco ignored this and turned to Neville.

"I do have feelings for Ginny, but I don't know if it's love. The last thing I want to do is hurt her."

"Are you sincere about this?" Neville asked.

"Yes."

After he said yes Neville nodded.

"I think that we should make some sort of pact. Something that says that the three of us will stick together no matter what. We have to get out of here and we can't do it alone. What do you guys say?" Neville asked. He held out his hand towards the two boys. Harry took Neville's hand. Neville and Harry turned to Draco. Draco took both of Harry and Neville's hand and they all shook on the bond.

"What now?" Harry asked.

"We need a plan to get out of here," Draco said.

*_*_*_*_*

"Elena, are you awake?" Harry whispered.

It has been one month since Harry, Draco and Neville shook on the pact. Elena has been sleeping in the dungeons with them, but she was free to leave whenever she wanted. She still does the healing whenever one of the boys are wounded. Occasionally, she would be sent to heal the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters cold not go to St. Mungo's or any other medical institution because of the risk of being discovered. Elena was a muggle so she had to heal the Death Eaters the old fashioned way, they had to have patience. The Death Eaters learned to appreciate Elena, even though she did not have a drop of magic in her.

During the month, Harry has learned more about Elena. Voldemort, who she liked to call Tom, took her under his wing. When she lost her family, Tom took her away from Mcnair, the person who led the raid on her town. Ever since then, from what Harry heard, she thinks of Voldemort as a second father, whom she has learned to love. Elena talks about Voldemort as if he is some hero. Maybe in her point of view he is. Harry could never picture Voldemort as the caring, fatherly figure that Elena described.

After every minute that passes when Harry listens to Elena, he feels as if her fingers are closing tighter over his heart. When Harry thought back to his crush on Cho, he thought that it was nothing compared to what he was feeling for Elena. He had only known her for a month but he feels as if he has known her for many years. Harry was relieved to find out that she was only friends with Draco, but he couldn't help but feel jealous whenever Draco is around her.

At the moment, everyone was supposedly sleeping. The three boys sleep in sleeping bags on the floor while Elena sleeps on the bed.

"Yes I am," Elena answered, "Having trouble sleeping?"

Elena quietly got off the bed and settled herself next to Harry. Harry felt heat coming from her.

"Want to join me in the sleeping bag?" Harry asked slyly. Elena just laughed at him.

"No, I'm serious."

Elena raised an eyebrow at him. She unzipped the sleeping bag and climbed in beside him. She went on her side to face him.

"Is there a reason why the 'Great Harry Potter' would want a petty muggle girl in his sleeping bag?"

"Petty?" Harry asked tracing her face with his fingers. She stared at him in shock. When Harry saw this he immediately pulled his hand back. He didn't know what gotten into him when he did that.

"I-I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right," Elena assured him, "Why did you do that?"

"I have to tell you something," Harry said, his palms started to get sweaty. Harry was nervous at the moment. He thought that facing the Hungarian Horntail was a walk in the park compared to telling Elena his feelings.

"What is it?"

"I have feelings for you," Harry's voice quivered.

"Feelings? What kind of feelings?" Elena asked smiling.

"I…I love you. I don't expect you to say anything back to me. I…I just need you to…" Harry stopped when Elena put a finger over his lips.

"Harry, I don't know what to say," Elena said, Harry's face fell at this, "But I want you to know that I may be feeling love for you."

"May?"

"I am, but I'm not sure. I mean, what I feel for you is not the same as I felt for my family."

"It's not supposed to be the same. Elena, are you saying that you love me back?"

Elena nodded. Harry wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. When he gazed at her face he saw that she was crying.

"Elena, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just that…" Elena wiped her tears with her hand. Harry moved her hand and started to kiss her tears.

"Harry," Elena whimpered. Harry covered her mouth with his and he started to kiss her. Elena's tears started to flow more freely. Harry was about to pull back when he tasted her bittersweet tears, but she buried her hands in his hair and pulled him back to her mouth. Elena was still crying as she kissed him back. Harry pulled her closer, closing the space between them. This was Harry's first real kiss so he wanted to make it worthwhile. Harry made a groan of displeasure when Elena pulled back. Elena traced her thumb on his lower lip.

"I'm sorry Harry. But I don't think that it's a good idea to do this."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Elena said looking down.

"I'm sorry, if it was a lousy kiss. This is my first time," Harry apologized.

"Oh my gosh, no. It wasn't a lousy kiss, it was also my first, but I enjoyed it. Harry, you three have to escape tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Why didn't Draco tell me?"

"He doesn't know," Elena said laughing.

"What do you mean?"

"I have a plan. I just came up with it today. I was going to tell you guys tomorrow, but I thought that it was best that you leave as soon as possible."

"Elena, what is your plan?"

"Tomorrow the Death Eaters are going to raid a village. Mostly everyone will be gone; it's the best time to escape. I smuggled some brooms in here. You three have to sneak out of the building, and I'll get your wands. When you reach the outside you will fly to Hogwarts."

"But how? We don't know the directions to Hogwarts," Harry commented. If the Death Eaters took them, he knew that they would be as far away from the castle as they could get. For all Harry knew, they could be in the middle of a desert.

"I know a spell to put on the brooms. It's like auto drive on airplanes. I've been spending time in the library," Elena explained, "Harry, please trust me on this."

"I do."

Elena smiled, "You know a month ago, you thought that I was a Death Eater. You didn't trust me or believe anything I said. I quote you said, 'I'll believe her when Voldemort wears a pink tutu, sings a song of the Bee Gees and declares his love to McGonagall. I don't think Tom has done any of those things, what made you change your mind?"

"I fell in love with you," Harry answered with a grin on his face.

"Oh really?"

"Yes really."

"Harry, you should go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow," Elena told him.

"Stay with me," Harry asked her.

"What would the boys say when they find us sleeping together?"

"They wouldn't care. They've been teasing me about this."

Elena thought about this. She never noticed them doing this to Harry. She did notice that Harry would get fidgety around her. Draco even told her Harry had a crush on her.

"Please stay with me," Harry pleaded with her.

"Fine, I will."

Harry smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"I love you," Harry told her, "And I won't get tired of saying it."

"Harry, am I your first love?" Elena asked. She buried her face on his chest. Harry was wearing a white cotton T-shirt that Elena was able to get.

"Yes you are."

Elena pulled back and gave him a sad smile, "I love you too Harry. Good night."

"Good night Elena."

When Harry saw Elena already sleeping he closed his own eyes. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

*_*_*_*

Elena was crying again. She looked at Harry's sleeping figure.

"He looks so happy," she thought.

"I really do love you Harry," she whispered.

She brushed her lips against his. She secretly wanted him to wake up and kiss her back; reluctantly she pulled away. As gently as she could, she got out of the sleeping bag. She got up and walked towards the dungeon door. Then as silently as she could she opened the door and went outside. Elena ran up the stairs and along the corridors. There were magical paintings on the wall. She hated looking at them, they always glared at her. When she reached the door she was looking for she opened it. It was dark inside; this was one of the biggest room

in the castle. In the middle of the room was a canopy bed. A fireplace was on the left side of the room, she could see embers still burning. A figure on the bed sat up.

"I said I don't want anyone to disturb my sleep," a hissing voice said.

"Tom."

"_Lumos_," said Voldemort and the room lit up.

Voldemort was surprised to see Elena at this hour.

"Why are you crying Elena?" Voldemort asked when he saw her face.

Elena ran to the bed Voldemort was in and threw herself at him. She was hugging him tightly and Voldemort hugged her back. She was crying on his shirt and Voldemort made no attempt to stop her.

"Promise me Tom, promise me that Harry will return to Hogwarts safely."

Voldemort stiffened at this, "I promise you Elena, Potter will return to that school of his if he does not make any foolish decisions."

"Thank you Tom."

"Don't thank me just yet. Remember our agreement."

"Yes of course. I will not do anything to break it."

Elena put her ear on his chest. She was expecting to hear a heart beat, but she could not hear anything. Voldemort didn't have a heart. Elena hated the position she was in. The two people that she loved most were enemies, Tom and Harry.

"You do know that the boy and I are destined to kill each other," Voldemort informed her.

"Yes."

"You need to decide which side you will support now. Choose wisely."

"I will stay with you Tom. I cannot leave you," Elena said, still crying. Voldemort removed her arms from his waist, got off the bed and started pacing along the side of the bed.

"Tom?"

"You love the boy."

Elena put her head down at this, "I do, but you know that I love you Tom."

Voldemort stared at her with his red eyes. I will make you forget the boy, he thought.

"Have you prepared the brooms?" Voldemort asked.

"Yes."

Voldemort went to the table beside the bed. He opened the drawer and took out three wands. He took Elena's hand and put the wands on her palm, and closed her fingers around the three objects.

"These are wands. They belong to those boys. Give it to them and say you stole it back. It should help with the escape." Voldemort explained, "Go back to the dungeons."

"Thank you Tom."

Elena got off the bed and kissed him on the cheek. Voldemort watched her leave the room and close the door behind her.

"I own her Potter, you cannot take her away from me," Voldemort hissed. His eyes were glowing in the darkness.

*_*_*_*

A/N: Well, what do you guys think?

Thank you to everyone that reviewed.

Next chapter: Harry and company escape. If you guys can't wait for the update, email me at radram009@yahoo.com and I send you the other half of the chapter. It's already finished, I'm just waiting for my beta's approval.


	16. Chapter 13B: Heartbreak

Disclaimer: Who thinks I'm JK Rowlings?

A/N: Hey all, this is the second part of the Harry chapter. As it says this mostly focuses on Harry. I promise that there will be Draco/Ginny goodness in the next chap.

Chapter 13B: Heartbreak

*_*_*_*

When Harry woke up the next morning he couldn't find Elena. He got disappointed; she said she'd stay with him. Harry sat up and saw that Neville and Draco awake.

"Are you excited?" Draco asked him.

"About what?"

"We're going to escape today. Elena told us the plan, she's getting breakfast by the way," Neville explained, "Did you sleep comfortably Harry?"

Harry smiled, "Yes, like a baby."

"An overgrown baby," a voice said at the door.

Harry got up when he saw Elena. He immediately helped her get the food inside the dungeon. Draco smirked when he did this. Potter has fallen head over heels over the girl. Draco noticed something in Elena's demeanor. She seemed distressed somehow. He frowned at this, something was wrong. Draco looked over to Harry to see if he sensed something wrong with Elena. He scoffed at what he saw. Potter was too busy trying to help Elena set up breakfast. This was the first time Harry did this. Elena looked towards Draco and pleaded with him not to say anything.

Elena and Draco practically grew up together and they knew how to read each other movements and faces. She knew the moment she walked in the room he knew that she was worried. She hoped that the other boys didn't notice anything. She looked at Harry and saw him smiling at her. Her heart broke at this, if he only knew.

After breakfast, Elena took something out of her pocket.

"Um, I don't know which ones belong to who," Elena said, holding out the wands.

The boys stared at her eyes wide. She said she would get the wands, but they didn't expect her to actually do it.

"Where did you get those?" Harry asked. He was worried about her.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be happy? These are your wands; it'll help with the escape. I took it from Tom's desk," Elena explained.

"You got it where?" Harry asked raising his voice.

"From Tom's desk."

"Elena, how can you do that?"

"What are you talking about Harry? How are we supposed to put the spells on the broom if we don't have wands? I'm a muggle and even if I had magic, I cannot perform it without a wand. Harry, there is nothing to worry about."

"What if Voldemort finds out you're helping us? Elena, if something happens to you I don't know what I'll do. When we get to Hogwarts, I could talk to Dumbledore to let you stay. He could do something."

"Harry, I won't be coming with you," She said, staring at the ground.

"What did you say?" Neville asked.

Elena looked up at Neville, "I'm not coming."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"I can't."

"What are you talking about you can't?"

"Harry, you wouldn't understand."

Harry just stared at her. How could he understand if she didn't explain?

"Understand what Elena? We have to get you away from that monster, do you want to stay in this place?" Harry asked.

"Don't call Tom a monster! I can't leave him," Elena yelled. Harry looked at her in shock.

"T…Tom? Is this about him? You're staying because of Voldemort?"

"I'm sorry Harry. I can't leave Tom," Elena repeated.

"But why?"

"I just can't."

"That's not good enough a reason," Harry argued.

"I'm needed here. Without me, these…these people will die."

"I need you!" Harry yelled. He walked towards her and took her hands, "Elena, please. Those Death Eaters are the people that killed your family. _Tom_ is the one that orders them and lead them. I'm begging you, leave with us." Harry didn't know how she could care for those people. She told him that she saw her family die, and he wondered how she got over that so quickly.

"Harry, I'm sorry."

Harry hugged her close, "Why? Is it because you love him? Do you love him more than me?"

Elena pulled away from him and took a step back, "Why are you making me choose? If you want an answer, then I would choose a father over a lover."

Harry backed away from her. Elena looked up to stare at him in the face. Harry was surprised to see her crying.

Elena was hurting inside. She just lied to the one person that she cared most in the world. When she came back to the dungeons after she visited Tom, she realized that if she had to choose between the two, she would pick Harry. She had to lie for his sake. She told Tom if he let the boys go, she would stay with him. Besides, like her sister used to say, there are plenty of fish in the sea. She was only fifteen, she was sure that someone else would be there for her. Harry Potter was famous; all he had to do was show his scar and girls would throw their selves at him. He would get over her quickly, she was sure of that.

"Harry, you don't need me. I'm sure when you go back to Hogwarts, there are plenty of girls that would want to be your girlfriend."

"Is there anything that I can do to make you change your mind?" Harry asked sadly. He knew he was fighting a losing battle.

"I'm sorry. You needn't worry about me. Tom will make sure that everything is fine."

Harry felt as if he was being stabbed in the heart when she mentioned Voldemort.

"What would happen if Voldemort discovers that you've been helping us?" Draco asked, finally deciding to interrupt the two.

"Tom won't find out if we successfully pull out the plan."

Draco surveyed her face, there was something wrong with her, and he could feel it. He looked into her eyes and saw fear. Draco walked towards her and whispered in her ear.

"We need to talk."

He pulled her away from Harry and Neville. When they were an earshot away he started talking to her.

"Voldemort knows something about this, doesn't he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elena replied. She turned to walk towards the other boys. Draco grabbed her wrist and turned forcefully her to face him.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Elena, I know something is going on. I don't think Voldemort is stupid either; if we escape he'll know that you have something to do with it. I'm also wondering how in the world did you get inside his room and steal back our wands? Surely there are some hexes preventing people from doing just that. And look at you; you got back here without a scratch. You're lucky that Potter was too blinded worrying about you to notice those details. The only reasonable answer to all those question that I could think of, is that Voldemort knows about our escape," Draco was careful to keep his voice down as he said this. Elena looked down at the floor and Draco put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why are you doing this?" Draco whispered, "What did he ask of you?"

"Draco, please don't tell Harry."

"Whatever you tell me will not reach another person, you can trust me."

Elena finally looked up at Draco, "Do you know that I'm doing this because I love him?"

Draco shook his head and Elena gave him a sad smile.

"I…I have to stay here for your escape."

"What would Voldemort want with you?"

"After growing up with you, you'd think that I'd get used to your arrogance," Elena commented.

"I don't understand what Voldemort is planning. Why would he want to free us? I mean he hates muggles, why would he want you to stay? Isn't Potter number one on his hit list? He's right here, why not kill him while he has a chance?"

"You make him sound as if he is some tyrant."

"He is!"

"I know that deep inside he does harbor some feelings beside hate. You don't know him like I do."

When Elena said this, something clicked in Draco's head.

"He loves you, doesn't he? Voldemort loves you."

"He does," Elena answered flatly.

"It makes some sense, but how can you love someone like him?"

  
"When I first met him my feelings for him were hatred. I was prisoner here in this cell when I first came and Tom would visit me wearing a mask, one of the death eater masks. He would come here offering food and just talking to me. I was reluctant to trust him, but… when he visited he was always kind to me. I did not want to have anything to do with him and the death eaters. Eventually my heart softened and I started looking forward to his visits. One day he told me he loved me and I was shocked. I didn't know what to say. The only thing I could think of, was ask him to show me his face. Again I was shocked to see that he looked more like a snake than a person. He told me that he feared that I would be repulsed by his looks if he came without a mask. To me looks doesn't matter, like they say, beauty is in the inside not the outside."

"What kind of love triangle do you have going on? The guy is old enough to be your grandfather," Draco asked exasperatedly. 

"I love Tom like a father, that's all."

"Why do you stay with him? If he loves you like a daughter then he would let you be happy or something."

"Tom needs me. I think this is his first time ever experiencing love. If you know anything about his childhood you would know that it wasn't a happy one. I…I feel pity for him."

"I can't believe you're doing this. What do you hope to accomplish?"

"Like I told you he does have feelings other than hate, maybe he could change. I can help him change and this might help thousands of people. The war already started and we need to do everything we can to end it."

Draco took a step towards her and wrapped his arms around her. Elena leaned on him and enjoyed the feeling of comfort he gave her, but she wished that it were Harry and not Draco holding her.

Draco felt eyes piercing his back and he knew exactly who it was, Harry. Harry was probably glaring at him. Draco pulled away.

__

"Uncle, I've finally got it," Darien exclaimed, as he ran towards Salazar. They were in a dungeon. Around the room was different potions equipment. There were vials containing different color liquids. A bookshelf was standing in the corner. Darien who was well versed in Latin could read the titles on the bindings. Most of the magic books in their days were written in Latin, as most spells were in Latin. Salazar who had a passion for potions would spend his time in the dungeons experimenting. He would get caught up in his work that he would forget about time and he would retire at dawn.

"What is it nephew?"

Darien reached in his robe and pulled out a notebook, he was smiling broadly. He handed the notebook to his uncle. Salazar looked at him questionably as he opened the book. Salazar was surprised with the contents of the book, his smile started to match Darien's jovial one. He flipped through the pages.

"How did you get these notes, they are detailed?" Salazar asked. He stopped when something caught his eye, "What is this spell, avada…I cannot read the rest."

"Oh, that spell, it is not perfected, there are still defects when casting the curse. Also, I already attempted the spell, it did the opposite of what I intended."

"What happened?"

"I killed a chicken with that spell while I was attempting to cure it from an illness. It also consumes an ample amount of energy for just one spell. I also had a problem with a muggle; the spell produces a green light when cast. Unfortunately for me a muggle just happened to walk by. You don't know the trouble I went through to erase his memory."

"I see, well, the rest of your notes will be able to help me, thank you for doing this for me."

"There is no problem uncle, if you need help come to me."

End of Flashback

"Draco, are you all right?" Elena asked.

Draco shook his head, "Yes, I'm fine."

Draco looked around the room and he felt as if he knew this room. Draco laughed at his self, of course he knows the room, he has been staying here for more than a month.

"Draco," Elena said, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Yes?"

Elena reached to her neck and pulled out a silver chain. Dangling on the chain was a ring with an "L" surrounded by a lion.

"Can you give this to Harry when you reach Hogwarts? I want him to have this," She told him.

Elena handed him her necklace. Draco nodded as he took it. He recognized the seal on the ring as her family seal. He remembered her father wearing this ring; it was passed down in her family to the next boy.

"You don't mind if I put it on, do you? I don't want to loose it in my pocket."

"I don't mind," Elena said. Draco put it over his head and now it was dangling around his neck. He slipped the necklace in his shirt.

"I think you should talk to Harry, tell him you love him and assure him of your safety."

Before Elena could object, Draco was already walking towards a glaring Harry. He said something to Harry and Harry just nodded. He started walking towards Elena.

"Malfoy said you wanted to tell me something."

"He has a first name for a reason, you know."

Harry gave into the impulse to hug her. Elena was surprised but she hugged him back.

"I'm sorry for all the things I said to you," Harry told her, "I have been rude to you the whole time we were here, and yet you gave me a chance to love you. I told you I love you and I always will."

Elena laughed, "Remember that Harry when you get back to Hogwarts and meet someone else. We're only fifteen; it's still a young age. I don't think that people meet their 'soul mate' at our age. You'll forget about me Harry."

Harry buried his face in her hair. He felt like crying.

"I'll never forget you, that's a promise. I thought about your decision, I was being selfish. If you really want to stay here, then I support your decision. Just take care of yourself. I don't know if he'll let you do this, but write to me sometime," Harry told her.

"I'll ask him."

Harry finally pulled back and looked at Elena. He bent down and brushed his lips against hers. He pulled back and saw that Elena looked disappointed. Harry couldn't kiss her like he did the day before. Right now he didn't feel like kissing her, he didn't want it to feel as if it was final.

*_*_*_*_

The three boys were waiting in the dungeon. Elena left to get the brooms. Harry was feeling miserable.

"Potter, are you feeling all right?" Draco asked him.

"I'm fine, I don't feel like talking at the moment."

Draco nodded and decided to not ask anything else. He was feeling sorry for Harry. He scoffed, what exactly is love, he asked himself. Why are people fooling themselves with that thing?

The door opened and Elena was holding three brooms. The boys rushed to her and stared in shock for the second time in that day.

"Elena, you never cease to amaze me," Draco commented looking at the brooms.

"Where in the world did you get the money to buy those?" Harry asked.

Elena was holding three Cloud Burst. Neville made a long whistle. He doubted that he could ride that thing.

"I stole the money. What do you think I did? Walked up to one of the Death Eaters and ask for one hundred galleons?" Elena answered. The truth was, Tom bought the brooms. He ordered it from a catalogue. Elena just went to his room and he gave them to her. He assured her that the boys would be safe on the broom; there were no hexes on them. The boys could even keep the brooms if they wanted.

Harry was wondering how she could steal that amount of money without anybody noticing.

"You must have stolen from rich person, to keep them from seeing that a large amount of money is missing."

Maybe that answers my question, Harry thought. He was still surprised that Elena brought the Cloud Burst model. These were supposed to be hard to come by. He himself has never seen one. He didn't go to Diagon Alley the last summer. He asked Hermione to doing his school shopping for him, he just owled her money. Harry just heard about the Cloud Burst from Ron, he knew that Draco already had one.

"Is this a good broom? Is it normal for it to be so expensive?" Elena asked.

"Is it a good broom?" Neville asked not believing what he was hearing, "Of course it's a good broom, it the best broom currently in the market. What made you buy this?"

Elena was making up the story as she went along, "I asked for a racing broom, they gave these to me after they asked me how much money I intended to spend. I'm not sure how the magic currency works. We can't talk right now. We have to put the spells on the brooms."

Draco was surprise nobody asked her where she bought the brooms. He didn't think that she bought the broom in the village where she buys the food.

"Will it work?" Harry asked. The Cloud Burst was supposed to be protected from hexes and spells.

"Yes, it will work. I read it on the instruction manual that came with the brooms. This spell is good for traveling."

Draco looked at her in confusion, was the spell really in the manual. If so, then he hasn't seen it.

Elena told them the spell. It took about three tries to get it right. The brooms were glowing yellow to indicate that the spell worked. Elena opened the door and beckoned the three boys to come out. Draco looked back towards the dungeon as he stepped outside.

Suddenly the room looked different. It was filled with potion items; he recognized it as the room Darien was in. Draco saw a transparent figure walking around the room. The figure started to turn to face Draco.

"Draco," Elena said. Draco turned towards her and he turned back towards the dungeon. There was nothing there. He wondered about what he saw.

He told Elena he was fine and they started walking. The corridors were dark, because most of the candles were not lit. It was probably because nobody was in the castle at the time. Even though castle was practically empty, Elena warned them to be quiet. They were lucky the paintings were sleeping. Elena thought that Tom talked to them because they never slept. 

They continued walking for what seemed like two hours. Elena stopped when they reached a door, which seemed as if it were made of metal. She turned to face them.

"This is it. Outside this door is the forest. You guys know what to do, just get on the broom and it will start flying."

Elena turned to face the door and pushed it open. A gush of wind blew inside. Harry shivered in the cold. He was only wearing a T-shirt and blue jeans, clothes that Elena got them. The Death Eaters ruined his own robes and clothes. Harry looked outside and saw a full moon. He was surprised to see the amount of innumerable stars. They were also on top of a hill; he could see a village at the bottom.

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't know that it would be this cold," Elena said when she saw him shivering.

"It's all right."

"Well…good bye," Elena said.

Neville stepped forward and hugged her.

"Thank you," He said and he pulled away.

Draco was the next person to hug her.

"Take care, if you need help then try to contact me."

Elena nodded. Harry was the only person left. He was standing in front of her. He didn't think that a hug was appropriate for the situation, but that was what he did. He hugged her. Elena wasn't even given a chance to hug back because he pulled away. He turned around and started walking out of the castle. Draco looked as if he was going to protest about what Harry did, but Elena grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Just leave him. Don't forget to give him my necklace."

Draco just nodded. He wanted to go over to Potter and punch some sense into him. This could be the last time he'll see Elena and he didn't even do anything. He didn't even say good-bye.

"Good-bye," Draco said.

"Good-bye guys," Elena told them.

Draco and Neville both gave Elena a final hug.

Harry was watching them from a far. He told Elena that he was fine with her decision about staying, but he lied. At the moment he was mad. Everyone was acting as if this was the last time they'll ever see each other. Harry didn't want it to be like that. They've been thinking about the escape for a month and Harry always included Elena in it. He never would have thought that it would be like this. He was also mad at the fact that Elena would stay because of Voldemort.

Draco and Neville pulled away from Elena and started to walk towards Harry. Draco heard thunder; he looked up at the sky and felt a raindrop. It started sprinkling.

"Just great," Draco commented, "I hope we don't catch pneumonia. Potter are you going to talk to Elena, we still have time."

Harry didn't answer; he just looked up in the sky.

"Potter! Did you hear me?" Draco yelled.

Harry continued to ignore him. Neville stood in front of Draco facing him.

"Just leave him," Neville told him.

"Fine, it his choice. He'll regret it later on. Just mount your broom Potter and fly off."

Harry still didn't turn around, but he mounted his broom. Neville and Draco did the same. The three of them pushed off the ground.

In the shadows, a figure was watching the three fly up into the air. As quietly as he can he walked towards Elena. He pointed his wand towards the girl. He finally reached her and he pressed the tip of his wand against her head.

"I have no idea why master would want to keep you, but after this day I'm sure that you will probably die," the man said. He slapped her hard on the face. Elena fell to the floor because of the force, "I'll leave the master to deal with you. As for Potter, Master will reward me for killing him."

He raised his wand and pointed it towards Harry.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!"

Elena got up and grabbed the wand before he could finish the spell.

Harry saw a green flash and turned around. He saw Elena on the ground and Goyle was standing with his wand pointed at her. He tried to turn his broom but he couldn't, the spell would not let him turn.

Draco and Neville knew right away that the green flash was the killing curse. When they turned and saw Elena they knew that she was already dead. Draco looked over to Harry to see if he was okay. He saw that Harry looked as if he wanted to jump off. Draco wasn't worried because the spell they put on the broom would prevent the rider from changing its course and falling off. Elena made sure that no matter what happened they would get to Hogwarts.

Harry tried to jump off be he came back down onto the broom. He wanted to go to Elena, but he couldn't. He felt as if his just died as he saw Elena's body. He cried as they flew off, getting far away from the castle.

Goyle was mad because the boys were able to escape. He scowled at the body in front of him. Suddenly a group of hooded figures apparated at the entrance of the castle. Goyle went to the figure at the center and kissed the hem of his robes.

"Master."

Voldemort pushed him away and bent down in front of Elena. Voldemort cradled her body and held her close. He looked towards Goyle.

"Who did this?" He asked.

"M…master, she was helping Potter get out. She was in my way and she broke my wand," Goyle tried to explain, holding out the two pieces of his wand.

"Potter was supposed to escape you fool! Were you listening yesterday! She was not supposed to die!" Voldemort yelled.

Voldemort stood up and said the cruciatus curse and Goyle fell in pain. He writhed on the floor and started screaming. Voldemort thought that Goyle deserved to die for killing Elena, but held back. He still had some uses for the man.

*_*_*_*_*

The boys have been flying for more than half the day. They left at around eight last night and now the sun was already out. They were flying at a fast speed. Elena estimated that they should reach Hogwarts at around nine o'clock in the morning. They were flying in the clouds to avoid letting any muggles see them.

Draco was worried about Harry at the moment. Elena's death should have hurt Harry. Harry and Elena were close.

Harry hated his self at the moment. He couldn't believe that he didn't even say good-bye to Elena. He didn't hold her for the last time or tell her that he loved her. He must have hurt her when he left without doing or saying anything to comfort her. His grip tightened on the broom. He would never forget Goyle's face sneering at Elena. He vowed to get his revenge.

Harry saw Hogwarts at a distance. He thought that when he saw the castle that he would be jumping for joy, but he wasn't. As they were getting closer they could see Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was teaching a group of students.

The broom jerked and they started to fly faster.

*_*_*_*_*

Ron was holding a kneazle. Hermione was telling him how cute the creature was. Ron was getting tired of hearing all the girls talking about the kneazle, he'd rather have them shriek in fear than hearing them cuddling. Ron looked up at the sky and saw three figures flying a broom. Everyone else in the class also saw the figures and started pointing at them. The figures were flying towards them at an alarming speed.

"Draco, how do you stop this thing?" Neville yelled.

They were reaching the ground but the brooms were not stopping. Just when they were about the crash into the ground the brooms jerked to a stop and Draco and Harry were finally released from the brooms and flew off in different directions. Neville held tight on the broom and flew forward holding the broom with him. He was able to see Draco fall into the lake and Harry being caught by Hagrid. Neville fell flat on his back on the grass.

  
"Oh my gosh! Ron that was Harry," Hermione yelled as she ran towards Hagrid.

"Greg, I saw Draco!" Crabbe said as he ran to the lake. Goyle and Crabbe ran to Draco.

Seamus and Dean helped Neville up. He walked towards Harry who was standing next to Hagrid.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hagrid asked. He gave Harry a bone-crushing hug, "Do you know how long we've been looking for you?"

Harry tried to get away from Hagrid, "Hagrid let go, Draco. We have to get Draco."

Hagrid let go of Harry and remembered someone falling in the lake. He saw Neville walking towards him. Hagrid looked towards the lake and saw Draco being helped out by Crabbe and Goyle. Draco was leaning on Crabbe for support. Crabbe put one of Draco's arms around his shoulder and helped him walked towards Hagrid.

"Hello Hagrid, it's a nice day for a swim. Don't you think?" Draco joked.

A/N: So what do you guys think? Thank you to all who reviewed and emailed me to give their opinions.

Next Chapter: Draco and Ginny are finally reunited. Harry has problems dealing with Elena's death and Draco tries to talk to him about it.


	17. Chapter 14: Reunited

Disclaimer: Who thinks I'm J.K. Rowlings?

A/N: Sorry for the delay, here's the chapter.

Chapter 14: Reunited

"Ginny, Ginny!"

Ginny was walking towards the Great Hall. It was already lunchtime. She turned around towards the person calling her. It was Dennis Creevy.

"Hello Dennis. What's wrong?" Ginny asked.

Dennis was breathing hard by the time he was standing next to her.

"Take a breath. Why are you running?" Ginny asked.

"Okay…they're here," Dennis told her.

"Who's here?"

"Malfoy and Harry. They're in the hospital wing. Nobody could get inside because Hagrid is guarding the door."

Ginny put her hands on Dennis' shoulders and shook him, "Don't lie to me Dennis. Are you telling the truth?"

"Why would I lie about something like this? Go to him Ginny. You're Malfoy's girlfriend, I think Hagrid will make an exception."

Ginny smiled before she ran off to the hospital wing. Dennis watched her run away. He was glad that Malfoy, Harry and Neville were back. Everything had been so gloomy without them. Quidditch matches and Hogsmeade visits were temporarily cancelled. This was also the first time in a month that Dennis thought he saw Ginny smile.

Ginny pushed her way through the crowd in front of the hospital wing. She tried to wave at Hagrid, but he was too busy trying to tell everyone to leave.

"Hagrid!" Ginny yelled.

Hagrid still did not hear her. Luckily, Lavendar and Pavarti saw her. They pushed people out of the way so Ginny could get through which caused everyone to glare at them.

"Thank you so much Lavendar," Ginny told her.

"No problem Ginny. I'm sure you can't wait to see him," Lavendar commented.

Ginny nodded. Hagrid saw her and greeted her. Everyone protested when he let her through.

Ginny closed the door behind her and was greeted by Ron.

"Quite a crowd out there," he said, "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Draco doesn't even know half the people out there," Ginny said, "Is he really here?"

Ron smiled and Ginny tried to look over his shoulder for a better look.

"Madame Pomfrey, I'm fine. We're not hungry, we already ate two bowls of porridge," Draco complained.

"Nonsense, you three are all skin and bones. Don't complain, just eat," Madam Pomfrey said sternly. She turned and went back to her office.

"Hey, Weasley. Do you want this thing?" Draco asked. Lifting up a spoon of porridge and tilted it to let the glob fall back into the bowl.

Ginny stepped around Ron and the image that greeted Draco caused him to suck in his breath. She looked different, more beautiful even. He set the bowl aside on the table next to his bed.

Ginny couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Draco. She was about to cry but stopped herself. Draco didn't like people crying in front of him. As she walked towards him, she remembered how lonely she felt without him. When she reached his bed, she just stood in front of him. She pictured this day many times in her head. She had a whole speech ready to tell him how much she missed him and to tell him her feelings. She was ready to return his feelings for her; she was ready to tell him that she loved him back. 

She couldn't do any of the things she planned. She just stood there staring at him. She noticed that Madame Pomfrey was correct; he did get skinnier.

Draco smiled at her. He reached out to cup her cheek. Ginny put a hand over his, she broke down and hugged him. Draco hugged her back and pulled her close. He pulled her onto his bed and leaned back onto the headboard still holding her and he buried his face in her hair. He leaned into her ear.

"I missed you," he whispered.

Ginny leaned back to look at his face. She traced his lips with her finger and leaned in to kiss him.

Ron's eyes widened as Ginny kissed Draco. He was about to walk over to the two until Hermione grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Leave them Ron."

"But Hermione, he's kissing her," Ron whined, "I have to stop him."

"You don't have to do anything. They haven't seen each other in over a month. You know how miserable Ginny was without him. Let them spend time together."

Ron reluctantly watched his sister kiss Malfoy. He walked towards Harry.

"Hey mate, you'd think that there was nobody else in the room the way those two are acting," Ron commented, still mad at the fact that his sister kissed Malfoy. They finished kissing and Ginny was still hugging Draco.

Harry would have chuckled at Ron if he were happy at the moment. He was staring at the wall in front of him.

"Harry, are you all right?" Ron asked.

Harry turned away from Ron and asked him to leave him alone.

Ron just stared at Harry, "Are you sure you're all right Harry?"

"I said, leave me alone!"

Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office at Harry's outburst. Ginny sat up and Draco looked over to Ron and Harry.

"Ron, it's best you leave him alone," Draco told him, "Harry is fine. Don't worry about him."

Ron nodded and walked away from Harry's bed. Harry turned around towards Ron.

"I'm sorry," He told him.

"It's fine, I'll be in the common room if anyone needs me," Ron told him and he left. Hermione followed Ron out.

Harry lied down on his bed and closed his eyes.

"Is he really okay?" Ginny asked Draco.

Draco looked sadly at Ginny and shook his head.

"So many things happened this past month. Someone died and she was close to Harry," Draco explained.

"Oh my gosh," Ginny exclaimed, "How is he taking it?"

"I don't know. From what I heard, he loved her."

"He must be heart-broken," Ginny commented.

Draco nodded in agreement. Ginny reached out, held on of his hands and squeezed it. She smiled at Draco and he smiled back.

"Draco, I have to tell you something," Ginny told him.

"What is it?"

She took in a breath before continuing, "I'm in love with you."

Draco was shocked; her brother told him that she was 'falling' in love not she was in love.

"When you disappeared, I missed you so much. I thought of you everyday, even when I slept…"

"You must have had good dreams," Draco joked.

"Draco, let me finish. Yes, you were in my dreams. They were good dreams because that was the only time we were together. When I wake up I look forward to seeing you in the Great Hall, and then I remember that Voldemort took you. Whenever I think of something it always seems to focus back on you. I realized after two weeks that I do love you," Ginny told him.

Draco kissed Ginny on the forehead, "Ginny…I have something to tell you…"

"Ms. Weasley," Madam Pomfrey came out of her office, "I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to leave. My patient needs to rest. You can come back after dinner."

"I have to go Draco," Ginny told him.

"I'll see you later," Draco replied.

Ginny squeezed Draco's hand one last time and left the Hospital Wing.

"And you," Madame Pomfrey pointed, "Finish your porridge." 

Draco nodded and took his bowl. He couldn't believe what he was about to do. He was about to tell Ginny about Darien. He didn't know whether to tell her or not. Will she be mad at him? Draco decided not to risk the chance. He will explain to her at a better time. Right now everything is a bit shaky. Now he just needs to find the right time. He decided to think about it later, right now he needs rest. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Unknown to Draco, Neville saw everything that was exchanged between him and Ginny. Neville was glaring at him.

"You don't deserve her," Neville said quietly.

*_*_*_*_*

"Let's Paarrty!"

"Get off the table," Hermione yelled.

The music in the common room was booming. She was sure they could hear it in the dungeons.

"Turn the music down!" Hermione told Fred.

"Hey do you want butterbeer?" Someone offered her.

Katie Bell put a hand on Hermione's shoulder, "Hermione let them enjoy

themselves. It no use trying to control them."

Katie walked away. Hermione sat down on a couch next to Ron. She was surprised to see him happily talking to Draco. Ginny was sitting on Draco's lap. Hermione thought that Ron would have protested, but he didn't seem to mind.

Neville was in the middle of the common room surrounded by people asking him what it was like to be a prisoner. Hermione thought that he seemed happy being the center of attention.

Harry was sitting alone in a corner. After he yelled at George everyone agreed that they should leave him alone.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" 

Everyone looked towards the voice. They saw Harry was yelling at George again.

"Why are you moping around Harry? Celebrate," George told him.

"I don't even know why I'm down here. I can't stand the noise. I don't even know why we're celebrating. There is nothing to celebrate!" Harry yelled and he stormed out of the common room and went to the boy's dorm. Everyone was surprised at Harry's outburst.

"I have to talk to him," Draco told Ginny.

Ginny nodded and let Draco go after Harry.

*_*_*_*_*

Draco opened the door to the 5th year dormitories. Harry was sitting in front of the window.

"Potter what are you doing moping here. There's a party going on in the common room."

"Does Elena's death mean anything to you?" Harry asked turning around.

"Elena was like a sister to me and her death is hurting me as much as it's hurting you, but I don't go around moping. Are you going to be like this the rest of you're life? We're only fifteen and Elena knew that. You are Harry Potter; you are destined to do great stuff with your life. Elena wanted to give you that chance. She already sold hers."

Harry stood and walked towards Draco, "What did you just say."

"I didn't say anything."

Harry continued to advance on Draco, "What do you know? Tell me!"

Harry pushed Draco against the wall. He was glaring at him.

"Voldemort knew about the plan. He and Elena worked together. She told him she would stay if he frees us. Voldemort left the castle to make the escape seem real. She was not supposed to die," Draco told him.

Harry backed away from him. It makes sense, all of it. The brooms and the wands, Voldemort gave them to her. How could she do this? They could have thought of another plan. I wouldn't have cared how long it would have taken, Harry thought, as long as you were included.

He went back to his seat by the window.

"Potter."

Harry turned to face Draco. Draco took off the chain he was wearing and he handed it to Harry.

"Elena wanted me to give you this when we got back here. Something to remember her by. It's her family seal incase you were wondering."

Harry took the ring necklace from him. He looked at the ring dangling on it.

"It was always to big for her to wear it on her finger so she wore it on a chain," Draco told him, "You could wear it either way."

'Did you know you were going to die Elena?' Harry thought.

"It's been in her family for ages, passed down from boy to boy. Her family only bore girls and it was given to her."

Harry took the ring off the chain and put it on his finger.

'I don't need a ring to remember you Elena. You will always be a part of me.'

"Potter, are you all right? Everyone is worried about you."

"What? Do you guys think I'll actually kill myself over this? Elena wouldn't have liked that. She had a thing against people who commit suicide. But that doesn't mean I'm over her. It doesn't mean that I'll go on with my life acting as if she never existed," Harry said.

"We're not expecting you to act like that. I guess some people out there are worried about the suicide thing," Draco told him.

"How did you do it?" Harry asked.

"Do what?"

"Get over your parents so quickly. You saw them die in front of you."

Draco closed his eyes. He hasn't thought of his parents in a long time. He has been busy with thinking of ways to get closer to Ginny. There was also the fact that they were taken prisoners by Voldemort. Draco opened his eyes.

"Are you asking how I can act okay? I guess I've been preoccupied. I haven't thought of my parents in a long time. I have a life to live, I'm sure they understand. I'm not telling you to busy yourself to forget about her, just… I don't know. You'll never forget about her, I'm sure of that. Just try to get on with your life. We have the OWL's this year and Quidditch matches to play. I guess there isn't anything else if you don't want to talk, I'll leave you then."

Draco headed towards the door.

"Malfoy."

Draco looked back at Harry.

"Thanks for talking to me," Harry told him.

"Anytime Potter," Draco told him.

*_*_*_*_*

"Harry seems to be getting better," Ginny commented.

Draco and Ginny fell back to their usual routine. They were watching the sunset together.

"I guess," Draco said. He nuzzled her neck. Ginny giggled.

"That tickles."

Draco stopped and lay down on the grass bringing Ginny down with him.

"Why are you so quiet?" Ginny asked.

Draco pulled Ginny closer to him, "I'm just thinking about my parents."

"Oh."

"I just realized that I haven't thought of them in such a long time. What kind of son am I? How could I forget about them so quickly?"

"Draco, you're a great son. I'm sure your parents are proud, you're a Prefect."

Draco quieted down at that. He didn't want to trouble Ginny any further. At least she thinks that he was a great son.

Draco sat up and looked out the lake, and at Ginny. He was surprised to see that she was watching him.

"Draco, winter break is coming up. Do you have anything planned? My parents want us home and I was wondering if you would like to come."

"I'm sorry Ginny, I can't. This is going to be my first Christmas with my grandparents, they want me to spend it with them."

Ginny really wanted Draco to spend Christmas with her. She didn't want to be separated from him again. One month was enough.

"What about the last three days of break? If it's okay with your parents," Draco suggested.

Ginny smiled, "Of course it's okay with my parents. Mum wants to meet you."

"Why do your parents want you back? People tell me that you guys usually stay here in the castle during break."

"Our parents miss us. Besides, they said there's a special occasion. The new Minister of Magic is going to have a Christmas party or something. Dad and him are friends and he wants to introduce us to him."

"New Minister of Magic? When did this happen?" Draco asked, "What happened to Fudge?"

"Oh, this happened when you guys were gone. Fudge got killed in a Death Eater attack. The Ministry went crazy; they didn't know who to replace him. Dad suggested some retired Auror who has been living in the muggle world for years. Apparently he helped bring down Voldemort. They thought he could help the ministry now. What was his name…I remember, it is Landon Dupre."

Draco froze at this. Grandfather, the new minister? Why in the world would he accept the offer? Draco thought that his grandparents have nothing to do with the wizarding world anymore. Draco didn't even know that some people knew his grandparents were even alive.

"Sickle for your thoughts?" Ginny asked.

Draco shook his head, "Um…nothing. I was just thinking about my grandparents."

Draco decided just to surprise Ginny during the party. He's Landon's grandson so he'll be there, right? Draco stood up and dusted his pants. He held out a hand for Ginny and she took it. He helped her up. He told her it was already dark and her brother might get worried. Together they walked to Gryffindor tower. They stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady and Ginny turned towards Draco.

"So, are you headed back to the dungeons?" Ginny asked.

"Actually, I don't sleep down there. I have my own room."

Ginny was surprised when he said that. She never knew about that and she has known him for more than two months and they were also going out.

Ginny kissed Draco on the cheek and entered the portrait hole. Ginny saw Hermione sitting by the fire reading Hogwarts A History for the hundredth time. She walked towards her and sat down next to her.

"Hermione."

Hermione put her book down and smiled at her, "You just came back with Draco?"

"Yes. Did you know he has his own room?" Ginny asked. She remembered Draco telling her that they became friends during the summer.

"Sure, it's by the portrait of Merlin in the east side of the castle. Why? Did he bring you there?" Hermione asked.

"No, he just mentioned it when we were at the lake. I didn't even know he has his own room until today. Has Draco ever taken you there?" Ginny asked. She was curious.

Hermione didn't know what to say. What would Ginny think if she were to say yes? She couldn't believe Draco had never mentioned it at least once. Hermione had been in Draco's room so many times. She first went there about a week into school.

"I've been there a few times," Hermione said.

"Oh,"

"Tell you what. How about we surprise him in the morning? He never changes the password to his room. It's kind of funny to see him in the morning without his clothes on."

Ginny's eyes widened after she heard what Hermione said. Exactly how close have the two become?

"I didn't mean it that way. I meant his school clothes. Do you know how long the guy takes to get ready?" Hermione asked.

Ginny just shook her head. The more she spends time with Draco the more she finds out how little she knows about him.

Ginny smiled at Hermione, "Yeah, why don't we surprise him."

Ginny and Hermione talked for a few minutes. Mostly about her and Ron. Ginny told Hermione she was going to bed and said good night. She went to her room and changed into some sleeping clothes. She got on her bed and pulled the covers up. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

__

Dream Sequence 

Gwenivere opened the door to Darien's room. She was surprised to see it was plain. It didn't have the grandeur she was expecting of a noble's room. It had a smell to it that she couldn't figure out. She saw a painting by the window and walked to it. It was a painting of the village. It was not like the paintings she sees in the church or anywhere she has been. It looked exactly like the village and it was very detailed. There was also something in the colors; it had feelings. She touched the painting and felt the paint beneath her finger. The door opened and she turned around.

"What are you doing here?"

Gwenivere pulled her hand away from the painting upon seeing Darien.

"Lord Darien, I'm sorry. I was just looking at the painting."

"What are you doing in my room? You can roam the manor as you please, but my room is one place you are forbidden to enter. No one comes in here except for me. Get out!"

"Lord Darien…I'm sorry…I was asked to clean the chambers…I…"

"Get out! Get out now!"

Darien walked to her and grabbed her arm. His grip was hard and Gwenivere bit her lip to keep from yelling out. He pulled her and when he reached the door he practically threw her out. He slammed the door behind her.

Gwenivere was sitting against the wall. Tears were slowing falling down her face. She never meant any harm. She didn't know what went through her mind to make her go in that room. She didn't know how many times Clarissa warned her to stay away from this wing. Clarissa warned her to avoid Darien at any cause; they told her he was having problems.

Henry was troubled to see Gwenivere crying. He immediately rushed to her side. He bent down next to her.

"Gwenivere, what happened? Why are you crying? Did somebody hurt you?" Henry asked. He looked behind him and recognized the door to Darien's room.

"Did Darien do anything to you?"

Gwenivere shook her head, "No Lord Henry. It was my fault. I entered his room."

"He does not have the right to cause you to shed tears," Henry said. He turned and entered Darien's room. He closed the door behind him. He saw Darien looking out the window.

"What have you done to her?" Henry yelled.

Darien turned to face him, "I have not done a thing. I just made her leave my room. She knew it was forbidden and yet she entered. I told you she could not be trusted."

"That does not give you a right to harm her!"

Darien walked towards him, "What is she to you? How many times have I warned you to stay away from her?"

"My relations with her are none of your concern."

"As is mine with her. Leave my room now, or I will be forced to take actions." Darien had his wand pointed at him in less then a second.

"If you harm her, I will come after you," Henry threatened and he left.

"What has the girl done to you my friend?" Darien said to nobody.

*_*_*_*_*

"Gwenivere, you have to help us," Clarissa said. She pushed a bowl of hot water in her hands. Gwenivere was in the kitchen, helping with the cooking.

"What is wrong?" She asked.

"Lord Darien is sick. Everyone is busy making preparations for the party. Justina wants you to nurse him to health."

Gwenivere nearly dropped the bowl, "You cannot expect me to go in his room."

"Please Gwenivere. You are the only one available. I'm sorry if you cannot visit your family, but you are needed here. I will help bring the soup."

Clarissa and Gwenivere walked to Darien's room together. Clarissa told her what she was to do. Gwenivere dredged spending time alone with Darien. Ever since the day he found her in his room, she had been avoiding him as much as possible.

Clarissa opened the door and let Gwenivere in first. The room was dark and it was hard to see a thing. Clarissa lit a candle and set it next to Darien's bed. Gwenivere saw that he looked paler than usual. Clarissa set the soup on the bedside table. She brought a chair next to Darien's bed. She led Gwenivere to the chair and set the bowl on the table. She left Gwenivere alone and closed the door behind her.

Gwenivere stared at the door and regretted her luck. She looked on the bed at Darien. He looked different somehow. She brought her hand to his face and pushed his hair out of the way. Suddenly he grabbed her hand. Gwenivere was startled.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you never to come here again."

"Lord Darien, you are sick. I have come to nurse you to health."

"I am not sick. I would know if I am. I just have a light headache."

Gwenivere put her hand on his forehead. It was burning. She ignored his protests about being sick. She submerged a towel in the bowl of water. She took it out and squeezed the water. She brought the towel to his forehead.

Darien watched her. He was surprised that she was even in his room. He thought he did everything to make her stay away from him, but it didn't work since she's right there.

"Why have you agreed to do this?" Darien asked.

"I was told to do so. Are you hungry?" She asked. She put the towel in the bowl. When he didn't answer she just took the soup and she started to feed it to him. She started to feed him the soup. She was surprised when he didn't say anything. He finished the bowl without saying anything to her. She turned to leave and Darien grabbed her hand.

"Thank you."

Gwenivere smiled, "You are welcome."

*_*_*_*_*

Gwenivere walked down the hallway of Darien's room. The door to his room opened and Darien came outside.

"Gwenivere."

Gwenivere stopped walking and faced him, "Yes, Lord Darien?"

"Can I use you?"

"I beg your pardon."

Darien cleared his throat, "That did not come right. May I paint you?"

Gwenivere said yes before she could think about it. She didn't know what made her answer.

Darien smiled at her, "Thank you."

End of Dream Sequence

*_*_*_*_*

"Are you sure that he won't mind?" Ginny asked Hermione.

"I don't think so. I think he'll be happy to see this early in the morning," Hermione said, nudging her. Ginny shook her head at him.

They stopped at a painting of a woman.

"Good morning Julia," Hermione said.

"Good morning Miss Hermione. Are you here to see Sir Draco?" The painting asked.

"Uh yes. This is Ginny," Hermione said introducing her.

"Are you Miss Virginia? (Ginny nodded) Sir Draco talks a lot about you."

"He does?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, ma'am. He says good things of you. Do you two want to enter?"

"Oh yes, um… Raven's Creek," Hermione said the password.

Julia smiled at them and opened. Hermione went in first and then Ginny. 

When Ginny came in the first color she saw was green. The room was filled with green, from the bed sheets to the curtains.

"He's not here," Ginny said. The bed was empty.

A door opened and Draco came in the room. Ginny blushed when she saw him and Draco's eyes widened. Draco was only wearing a towel around his waist and his hair was wet. Ginny figured that he just took a shower.

"I think this is my queue to leave," Hermione said winking at Ginny.

"I suggest you put on some clothes Draco," Hermione said before leaving out the portrait hole.

Ginny just stared at the portrait hole. She didn't know how to react at the situation. She didn't even know why she was nervous. She grew up with six boys in a house and some of them have morning rituals that would disturb many girls, Fred and George are one example. They would run around the house stark naked during New Years yelling as loud as they could.

Ginny didn't know whether to even look at Draco or follow after Hermione. Did she plan to leave her from the beginning?

She didn't turn around to look at him, "I'm sorry Draco. We just came to surprise you."

Draco chuckled, "I guess you must have been curious. Just don't turn around yet…Okay, you can turn now."

Ginny didn't know how red her face is now. Draco was wearing boxer shorts. Ginny could see he was enjoying doing this to her, making her nervous. Draco was now openly laughing at her. Ginny shook her head at him. She stopped when something caught her eye.

"What is that?" She asked.

"What is what?"

She advanced towards him, "That on your arm."

Draco remembered he wasn't wearing a shirt. He didn't think he ever told Ginny about the summer.

Ginny was now in front of him. She touched the Dark Mark.

"You're a Death Eater?"

Draco shook his head and went to his bed. He sat down and looked up at her.

"Do you know that is the most overused line I have ever heard? No, I am not a Death Eater," Draco answered. He hated it when people ask him that question; it made him remember that day.

Ginny sat down next to him, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't have a need to tell you. It's nothing important. I don't like talking about it."

"Nothing important? This kind of thing is more than nothing."

Draco stood up, "What did you want me to do? Bring up how I almost became a Death Eater while we're eating dinner? This is something that I want to forget, and telling everybody that crosses my way isn't going to help."

"Did you get it the same day your parents died?" Ginny suddenly asked.

Draco smiled sadly, "Yeah."

Ginny walked to him and hugged him. Draco hugged her back gratefully. He didn't know why he always felt relaxed when Ginny is holding him.

"I think you should put on some clothes now."

Draco chuckled, "Do you want to help me pick something out?"

A/N: That's all. I'm going to skip winter break. I started writing a chapter about it, but I realized that it was pointless. I'm going to start the next chapter in January.

Shameless plug: Go read my story Die Some Other Day while you guys are waiting for the next chapter. It's a Draco/Ginny fic, but if you guys are not into angst/drama it's not for you. All you Harry fans out there, don't be dissuaded by the summary.

Thank you: Thank you to my betas Francesca and Jen and thank you to everyone that reviewed.

Next Chapter: They're back from winter break. More Darien/Gwenivere interaction.


	18. Chapter 16: The Truth

Disclamier: I don't own anything except some of the characters I made up (You guys could figure out who they are.)

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this out. Well here it is.

Chapter 16

__

Dream Sequence

Gwenivere sat on a chair in front of Darien. She watched him concentrate while he was painting. She had a feeling that she had to stay quiet when he's like that. He was so absorbed in his work. Occasionally he would look up and glance at her.

"You can relax now," Darien told her, "If you wish, you can walk around my room."

Gwenivere was relieved. She was getting tired of sitting up straight and not moving. She got up, walked to him and she stood behind him to see what he was doing, but there was one problem, there wasn't much to see.

"This is just an outline," Darien told her, "I have your picture in my mind. You are very beautiful."

Gwenivere blushed at his comment. He looked over his shoulder and saw this.

"Has anybody told you so?" Darien asked.

"No one. You are the first Lord Darien."

"Call me Darien, just Darien."

****

"He does not mind people that he cares for to address him properly. Of course, around guest we have to do so."

Gwenivere watched intensively as Darien continued to paint. She wondered why he wanted to paint her in the first place.

"Are you betrothed?" Darien asked, startling her.

"No my lord."

Darien looked at her. "Darien," he corrected her.

"I am sorry lo…um…Darien."

Darien continued with his work, "Do you have any suitors?"

Gwenivere wondered why he was so interested in her private life.

"No Darien," Gwenivere answered. She liked saying his name; it gave her a feeling as if they were equal. There were no formalities and she didn't have to watch how she spoke to him. She was still a little nervous being alone with a noble. She has heard stories of nobles taking advantage of servants.

Darien set his paints and brush aside and turned to her.

"How old are you?" Darien asked. She looked almost twenty. Girls like her usually wed in their teen and she was a beautiful girl. There were also many young men in the village, surely one of them had their eyes set on her. Maybe her dowry wasn't enough to attract anyone. He knew that her family was one of the poorest in the village.

"Nineteen."

Darien got up and walked to the window. He turned to face her.

"I was you age when I was married."

Gwenivere didn't know what to think of this. Why hasn't anybody mentioned this before? If he is married, where is his family? Darien saw her confusion and he gave her a sad smile.

"I am twenty-four. I was nineteen and she was sixteen. She and my son died four years ago. My child son was born without a breath and my wife could not take the pains of childbirth."

"I am sorry," Gwenivere said. He must have cared for her. She could see that he was hurting.

"It is all right, it is the past. Why are you even saying sorry to me? You played no part in her death."

Darien walked back to her and faced the painting.

"I will not be able to finish it today," he told her, "It is almost supper time. I am sure you are needed in the kitchens."

"Yes my lord."

Darien turned to face her. "I mean Darien," Gwenivere corrected herself.

He smiled, took her hand and placed a kiss upon it.

"It was a pleasure to spend time with you Miss Gwenivere," Darien told her.

Gwenivere eyes widened. Did he kiss her? Darien dropped her hand. He was casual about it and acted as if it was nothing. Most nobles wouldn't even dare touch a servant and some out there would rather die than approach a peasant.

"Will you send for Nicholas on your way to the kitchen?" he asked her walking back to the window.

"Y-yes Darien," Gwenivere said as she left his room.

End of Dream Sequence

"So Draco, did anything happen between you and Ginny during the break?" Hermione asked, nudging him. They were walking towards the Prefect's room for a meeting.

Draco ignored her and kept walking.

"Hey, are you all right?" Hermione asked. She had to speed up to keep up with him. She grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I had another dream," Draco told her, "I had another dream about Darien and Gwenivere. It's getting to me Hermione. It's tearing me apart that I can't tell her."

He turned to face her and Hermione saw that his face was blank. Usually she could read his face and tell what he was feeling, but she couldn't. He was clenching his jaw. Hermione reached out to hold his cheek.

"Draco, just hold on a bit," Hermione told him, "You could tell her soon when all of this is finished."

Draco pulled her hand away, "When will this be over? I don't even know how to end this. When I do fall in love with Ginny, what then?"

"Wait a minute. You don't love Ginny?" Hermione asked. The two have been dating for almost four months and they spend almost all the time they could together. Hermione even found Draco sleeping on a chair next to Ginny's bed holding her hand. She thought that Draco already loved Ginny. The way those two are acting it's hard to think otherwise.

Draco shook his head, "I'm not sure. Ginny loves me, but I don't think that the curse will break if only one of us is in love."

"Come on, we have a meeting. We'll talk about it later," Hermione said. She didn't think that it was wise to talk about this out in the open. She took his hand, and started walking.

*_*_*_*_*

"Due to recent events, the Headmaster wants to have activities during spring break. Are there any suggestions?" Katie Bell asked.

"What about a dance? The Yule Ball was successful last year," Draco suggested.

Katie looked at Draco, "That's actually a good idea Draco. I'll write that down. Does anybody else have any suggestions?"

"Actually, I think all of us want a dance. Well, I want to have a dance," Justin said.

"Me too," Padma answered.

"What about you six?" Katie asked the other Prefects. All of them agreed.

"Okay, so what's the theme?" Katie asked.

Draco shrugged his shoulders at this. Katie looked at the clock on the wall.

"I guess we'll just talk about this in the next meeting. Think about it until then and keep this a secret," Katie asked, "You are all dismissed."

*_*_*_*_*_*

"Where are we going?" Draco asked Hermione. She was once again dragging him off somewhere.

"We are going to meet a friend of my Aunt," Hermione answered.

"Who? Hermia?"

Hermione stopped walking and Draco bumped into her.

"Why did you stop?" Draco asked.

"How do you know?"

"About Hermia? I've met her, what about you?"

"My aunt introduced me to her sometime when you were gone. We talked with each other during that time. Did you know that she fell in love with Gwenivere's brother, Reynold?" Hermione asked, she continued to walk, pulling Draco.

"That's no surprise. You're her heir, Ron is Ginny's brother. Makes sense, it's like history's repeating itself."

"Don't say that. Let's hope history isn't the same or else you'll die," Hermione told him, "It's just sad though that Hermia had to watch everyone she cared for die. She still ages, but at a slower rate. When she was sixty years old, she still had the body she had when she was twenty. We're here."

Hermione knocked on the door of her aunt's room.

"Come in, it's open," Linda said.

Hermione opened the door and entered. Draco closed the door behind him.

"You know, you should lock the door Linda or are you just waiting for a certain Potion Master to come in?" Draco asked. Hermione slapped Draco on the arm and gave him a warning glare.

"Oh come on Draco, leave my aunt alone."

"Actually, Severus just left," Linda greeted them, wearing only a bathrobe. Draco raised an eyebrow and Hermione's jaw dropped as she stared at her aunt in horror.

"Hermione, close your mouth, a bug might fly in," Linda warned.

Draco walked to a couch, flopped on it and tried to get comfortable.

"Would you like some tea Draco?" Linda asked.

"Yes please," Draco answered politely.

Hermione looked at Draco and back at her aunt. Since when have the two gotten along? Linda left and went to prepare tea. She came back five minutes later with a kettle and three cups.

"Hermione, are you just going to stand there?" Linda asked.

Hermione walked to the couch and sat next to Draco. Once again she squirmed on the seat, feeling uncomfortable sitting so close to him. There was practically no space between them.

"Um…is there something going on between you and Snape?" Hermione asked.

"Severus? No, we're just good friends."

"Friends that shag each other every now and then," Draco whispered in Hermione's ear.

Linda poured everyone a cup of tea. She took one and she sipped it.

"I heard that Draco. Severus and I don't even sleep in the same bed."

"Who said people had to make love on a bed?" Draco questioned.

Linda shook her head and laughed. Hermione thought that she was going to be sick.

"You have a point," Linda said, winking at him.

"Aunt Linda!"

"Yes Hermione?"

"What are you insinuating? Are you and Snape actually…you know?" Hermione asked.

"No Hermione. Severus and I are not have sex. There, I said the forbidden word. Why did you even mention Severus, Draco?" Linda asked.

Draco casually drank his tea, "I don't know. Probably because a certain Potions Master can't stop talking about a certain DADA professor."

"Really? What he is saying?"

"Since when did you two start gossiping? You sound like Lavendar," Hermione commented, turning to Draco.

"I'm not gossiping. Is it wrong to be informed about the happenings around the castle?" Draco asked.

"We're not here to talk about my aunt and her non-existent relationship with Snape."

"Sorry. I guess I got a bit sidetracked. You did look funny though, wish Creevy was here to take a picture of you when Linda mentioned the 'forbidden word'," Draco said, "Linda, we're here to talk with Hermia. Is she awake?"

"Oh, I thought you two were here to spend time with me," Linda said, feigning hurt.

"Sorry Aunt Linda. We really need to talk with Lady Hermia," Hermione told her.

"It's okay. Follow me," Linda said. She got up and walked to the portrait leading to Hermia's room. Draco saw Hermia sitting in front of the fire. He wondered if she ever left that chair of hers. She was exactly in the same place he last saw her. Linda ushered the two of them inside and asked them to keep their voices down. When Hermione and Draco were inside the room, Linda left them and closed the portrait behind her. Hermione and Draco looked at each other and started walking towards Hermia. When Draco was in front of Hermia, he got down on his knees, took her hand and kissed it. Hermia looked down at him and smiled.

"It has been a long time Darien," Hermia greeted. She saw Hermione and smiled at her too.

"How have you been Hermione?" Hermia asked.

  
"I've been fine. Christmas break was…um…fun," Hermione answered.

"Fun?" Hermia questioned. She liked having Hermione around.

"I hardly think being locked up in a tool shed with you is fun," Draco commented. Hermione looked at Draco and saw that he was serious. Being locked in the tool shed was probably one of the main highlights of the winter break. Somehow, Tracy didn't know that Hermione and Draco were not together anymore. She had the idea that they had a lover's spat and were not on speaking terms. She hatched up a plan to get them to settle their 'differences.' Hermione did have to admit that it wasn't any fun. After hours of yelling for help, Draco's grandfather found them practically frozen and starving. Both of them were confound in bed for three days.

Hermione saw Hermia staring in Draco's eyes.

"I see," Hermia said.

"I know, I almost froze to death out there," Draco commented. He didn't feel like explaining to Hermia what happened so he asked her to read his mind instead. That way, she would know the details. He didn't mind her doing that.

"So, to what do I owe this visit?" Hermia asked. She knew that the two children didn't come to just talk about winter break.

"We were wondering how the curse ends. I mean, after he realizes that he's in love with Ginny what happens?" Hermione asked.

Hermia looked down at this, "Their bloods would have to be mixed through an act of love."

Hermione was confused at this. The blood thing didn't seem to be appealing. She saw that Draco got pale at this. Did he understand what had to be done?

"Does Ginny have to get pregnant?" Draco asked. Hermia nodded and Hermione stared at her. 

"Pregnant?" Hermione asked, not knowing she said it aloud.

"Yes."

"Why couldn't they just make vows or something?" Hermione asked.

"Vows and promises can be made and broken. It takes only one person to make a vow. For a child to come into the world, two people are needed. A child can be proof of two people's love for each other," Hermia explained. She didn't know if they understood. There was a deeper meaning, she wasn't sure if she should tell them the real reason a child was needed. A child was the start of all of this.

"There is something that you don't know about Gwenivere," Hermia started. She saw that she caught Draco and Hermione's attentions.

"Shortly after Darien died, Gwenivere found out she was carrying his child."

"A baby? What happened to it?" Hermione asked. Hermia looked up at her and Hermione could see that she did not want to continue.

"The child died before it was born." Hermione and Draco's eyes widened at this.

"Salazar found out about the child. He beat Gwenivere until it died inside of her. He didn't want a child with Slytherin blood born from a muggle mother. He would've killed Gwenivere had Gryffindor not interfered. She wanted that child so much, it would have been the only thing that would have came from her love for Darien. If the child was born we probably would have never done this. Lady Hufflepuff knew of a way to give Gwenivere and Darien another chance to be together. Love can give the power to some of the most powerful magic. She helped Gwenivere and I perform the spell. Unfortunately there was someone informing Lord Salazar. While we were in the middle of the final preparations Salazar succeeded in killing Gwenivere. I got in the middle of the attack and this is what happened. I was cursed and what was only supposed to be a wait of fifty years became more than nine centuries."

Draco couldn't move. He didn't think that so much happened to Darien and Gwenivere. He felt badly for Hermia because she had to witness all of this. Now he believes that Slytherin really was a horrible person. How can a person kill a baby that has never even seen light? The child couldn't even fight back. So all of these problems focused on a baby. Is that what Draco's goal is now? After he falls in love with Ginny he has to get her pregnant?

"A baby. All of this because of a baby," Draco said, "I have to get Ginny pregnant?"

Draco didn't know how many times Hermia answered that question.

"I understand that you and Gwenivere are still young. You two are barely into. It is perfectly fine that you two wait until you are ready. A few years are fine with me," Hermia told him.

Draco stared at her. He suddenly became angry. A few years? She's giving him a few years. Why didn't she say this before? He rushed everything to win Ginny's heart in a few months. Now, he's getting worried that everything would fall apart. Keeping all of this is tearing him apart.

"Draco, are you all right?" Hermione asked.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Draco asked Hermia.

"I did not feel that you were ready. I was waiting until you had a few more dreams of Darien and Gwenivere."

"You're the one giving Draco dreams?" Hermione asked. Hermia nodded.

Draco shook his head. This is a lot of information for one day. He never realized how much Hermia played a part in this.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Draco said and he ran out of the room.

"Lady Hermia, he's just confused. Please…" Hermione started, but Hermia stopped her.

"It is all right. It is understandable. You should go after him," Hermia told her.

Hermione nodded and ran after Draco.

*_*_*_*_*

Draco ran out the door of Linda's room, ignoring her shouts. He didn't stop until he turned a corner. He leaned against the wall and tried to collect his breath. He wondered why he was even acting this way. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned.

"Draco, are you all right?" Hermione asked him.

"Of course I'm fine. I feel fine and dandy," Draco said sarcastically.

"Are you mad? Never mind, don't answer me. Draco, what's wrong?"

"How can she keep all of this to herself?" Draco asked.

Hermione assumed that he was talking about Hermia. 

"Why did she start now? Why didn't she give me a few year as she said?" Draco continued.

"I don't know. Maybe, she wanted you to get to know Ginny better. Having a child with someone is a big step."

Draco sat down on the floor and buried his hands in his hair.

*_*_*_*_*

"So Ginny. Where's Malfoy?" Lavender asked.

"He's in a Prefect's meeting," Ginny answered. She was walking to the Great Hall to meet up with Draco. She had no idea when Lavender and Pavarti started following her. One minute she was walking alone and the next the two of them were by her side.

"Hey, isn't that Draco?" Pavarti asked.

Ginny saw Draco sitting on the floor. She was about to walk to him, but stopped when Hermione hugged him. Hermione ran her fingers through Draco's hair.

"Hermione, what am I supposed to do?" Draco whispered.

"I don't know."

Draco chuckled, "That's a first. You usually have all the answers."

Hermione suddenly stood up and Draco looked up at her. She stared at a dark hallway and her hand was shaking slightly.

"Hermione?"

"What do you feel for Ginny?" Hermione suddenly asked.

"What? I thought we talked about this already."

"I need to know," Hermione insisted.

"You already know," Draco answered.

"No I don't."

"Why do you want me to repeat this?" Draco nearly yelled, "Why?"

"Just tell me."

"I don't know what I feel for Ginny."

"Do you love her?"

Draco stared at her. Didn't he just tell her earlier that he didn't love Ginny yet? What was Hermione trying to do? Was she trying to throw everything at his face? He was already feeling badly about this. What's with the change of attitude?

"No."

"I didn't hear you," Hermione told him.

Draco glared at her, "No! Okay, I don't love Ginny!"

Draco thought he could see a slight smile on Hermione's face. Now he was confused. He shook his head, turned around and froze. He could see Ginny, and she was crying. He took a step towards her and she ran.

"Ginny! Wait!" Draco yelled. He ran after her, ignoring the glares Lavender and Pavarti were giving him.

Hermione stumbled and put a hand on the wall to steady herself. She looked around and could not find Draco.

"Where did he go?" Hermione whispered. She saw Lavender and Pavarti glaring at her and she wondered why.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Draco couldn't catch up with Ginny until he reached her dorm. The door was locked when he reached it. He undid the locking spell and went inside.

"Go away Draco!"

"Ginny, listen to me…"

A pillow was thrown his way and he caught it. Cautiously he walked towards Ginny.

"What do you want?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, I…sorry."

"Is that all you can say?" Ginny asked, "Why did you lie to me? Why did you tell me that you loved me? Were you just _playing around_?"

"God no. I was never playing Ginny. Let me explain."

"Then explain!" Ginny yelled.

Draco tried to take her hand but she pushed his hand away. Draco sighed and stood in front of her. He told her about dreams, and also about Linda and Hermia. He told her that he was only trying to help Hermia with the curse. He explained that he was Darien and she was Gwenivere. He was supposed to make her fall in love with him. When he finished, he stared at her, waiting for a reaction.

Ginny stood up and slapped him.

"How could you do this to me? I poured my heart to you and you used me! You used me Draco. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't want you to feel as if you were being forced to fall in love with me."

"And you think that not telling me was better? Look what happened! Yes, your plan worked, I do love you, but what about you? Did you ever feel anything for me? You're just like him. You're just like Tom!"

Draco couldn't think of anything to say to her. He just stood there, staring at her.

"Get out Draco," Ginny was able to say calmly.

"Ginny, I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you."

"Get out!"

"I care about you," Draco told her, and he left.

When Draco reached the common room, he was confronted by Ron.

"I just came in here and I heard yelling. Is everything okay with you and Ginny?" Ron asked.

Draco looked at him. He was going to say something but the portrait hole opened and Hermione walked inside.

"Draco, what happened?" Hermione asked.

Draco glared at her, "You tell me. Why didn't you just let it rest? You knew how I felt about Ginny."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"What? How can you say that?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know. The last thing I remember is hugging you and then I got dizzy. The next thing I knew, you were gone and Lavender and Pavarti were glaring at me."

"What's going on here? What happened to Ginny?" Ron asked, obviously confused.

"I don't think that Ginny and I are together anymore," Draco said. He didn't wait for Ron to comprehend when he left the common room.

*_*_*_*_*

"Ginny, are you all right?"

"Go away!"

"It's me, Neville. Ginny, you have to eat. I brought you a sandwich," Neville told her. He walked towards her and set the plate with the sandwich on her bedside table. He took a chair and sat next to her bed.

"Are you going to go away?" Ginny asked.

"No, not until you eat and talk to me."

Ginny turned and looked at Neville. She was mad at him. Why won't he just leave her alone? She looked at the sandwich and her stomach grumbled. She hasn't eaten anything since breakfast. She yelled at her room-mates to just leave her and understand what she's going through and they did. Apparently the news about Draco and Ginny's breakup spread like wildfire. Why wouldn't it? Lavender and Pavarti knew the reason, but they didn't tell anyone. They didn't think that Ginny would want them to. They just spread the news about the break-up and nothing else.

Ginny sat up, glared at Neville and took the sandwich. She took a bite, chewed and swallowed.

"Thank you," Ginny said. Neville smiled. He took a handkerchief and offered it to her. She thanked him again and wiped her tears with it.

"Are you mad at Draco?"

She glared at him, "What do you think?"

"I guess you are. The guy is miserable though."

"He should be. After what he did, I don't think we're going to get back together."

"You're not serious."

"I am. Do you know what he did? Do you? He used me Neville. He lied about everything."

"Not everything," Neville said, looking down.

"What do you mean?"

"I gather that he told you about Darien and Gwenivere," Neville said. Ginny nodded.

"How do you know about them?" Ginny asked.

"He told me. He told me and Harry about it. I was mad at him, but then again I was glad that at least he was being honest. Ginny, listen to me if you won't listen to Draco. The guy is stupid…and confused. He loves you, he just doesn't know it."

"How do you know?"

"Did you know that he was only doing all that stuff because he was being forced? You looked surprised, don't be. He doesn't want to admit it but Hermione and her aunt were making him do all this stuff. He'd do anything for Hermione, he feels as if he owes her."

"That doesn't explain how you think Draco loves me. You only told me about Hermione. Draco never mentioned her once in his explanation. And who is her aunt?"

"Professor Shaw. I thought Draco would have mentioned her. Did he ever tell you what happened during the summer?"

"How do you know all of this?" Ginny asked. She was starting to get a feeling that Neville knows more about Draco than she does, and she was his girlfriend.

"Draco says a lot of things when he's angry. I have never heard Draco raise his voice at you. I don't think he has ever even been mad at you."

Ginny thought about everything he told her. She's not stupid nor blind, she knew that Neville liked her. Everyone was always teasing her about him up until the point she started dating Draco. Draco was also never nice to Neville until this school year. Neville has every reason to be mad at the guy, but he's not. He's actually backing him up.

"Why are you helping Draco?"

"I…I have to. This is the best thing I could do to…I owe him."

"Oh," Ginny said. She wondered why Neville owed Draco, but she didn't press any further.

"I know it's hard, but you have to forgive him. Get back together with Draco before it's too late," Neville said quickly. He got up and ran out the room before Ginny could stop him.

'Before it's too late?' Ginny wondered. What did he mean by that?

__

Dream Sequence

"It's actually beautiful," Hermia told Darien.

"Is it really?" Darien asked.

Hermia nodded. The painting really was beautiful.

"How long have you been working on it?"

"A month."

Hermia started coughing.

"Are you all right?" Darien asked her.

She turned to him. "Are you serious? A month?"

"Yes, why?"

"Are you sick?" She was going feel his forehead but he backed away. She wondered why he wasn't finished yet. She could see that he spends time on the painting. The details are magnificent. She wasn't born yesterday not to notice the glances he has been giving Gwenivere. It was some sort of adoration. Of course Darien would never admit it. She was still surprised that he's not even finished with the painting. Usually when Darien starts a project he finishes it quickly. He would not eat nor sleep until a painting is completed. It's just not him to take so long on something like this. A thought came to her mind. Is he taking his time on purpose so he would spend more time with Gwenivere?

"I am going to enchant it."

Hermia was shaken from her thought. "You are what?"

"I am going to enchant it. You know, make it a wizard portrait. I love this painting and it deserves life."

"You mean you love the subject," Hermia told him. Darien turned to her.

"I do not know what you are talking about."

Hermia sighed. "Oh Darien. Who do you think you're fooling? Surely not me. Who would have thought, Darien Slytherin falling for a muggle? You better not do anything to dirty your blood," Hermia threw back at him. Darien stared at her.

"Tell me, what kind of company is Gwenivere? There has been talk in the kitchens about Gwenivere spending all her free time with you."

"I am not going to comment."

Hermia started giggling, "You like her admit it. You do."

"I do not like her. I cannot like her, Henry…"

"Henry is not going to do anything. Both of you and I know that he is fickle. He loves through his eyes, not his heart."

Darien walked to his bed and sat down.

"You're right. I should not do anything to dirty Slytherin blood."

Hermia frowned. She was just joking with him. She was actually glad that he's falling for Gwenivere. This could probably help with settling the differences between muggles and magic folk.

"Gwenivere is great company. She doesn't bore me with talk of politics or marriage. She talks about various things. Mainly life here in the hacienda. Talks about life. I am so sick and tired of hearing women talking about how I would make a great husband. I feel as if they are the suitors."

Hermia giggled. She has noticed that much. Besides, who wouldn't want to marry Darien Slytherin? His family was rich, you can't say he's ugly and he has one of the purest blood in the wizarding world. Hermia went to a party with Darien once and the moment they stepped in the room, the men started introducing their daughters and Darien couldn't get away from them. Hermia was glad that all the attention isn't getting to his head.

They heard a knocking at the door. Darien told the person to enter. When Gwenivere opened the door and entered, Hermia raised an eyebrow. Darien saw this and scowled. Gwenivere thought that the scowl was directed to her.

"I am sorry to disturb you Lord Darien, but I was told to deliver a message," Gwenivere explained. She held out a sealed letter and Darien walked towards her. She handed him the letter and he opened it. While reading it, he smiled and turned to Hermia.

"My uncle is coming," Darien told her.

End of Dream Sequence

Draco woke up and was drenched with sweat. He hated those dreams. He got up and walked to the bathroom. All he needs now is a cold shower and he would forget about the dream. While he was in the shower, he did forget about the dreams but he started thinking about Ginny. He hasn't seen her since the breakup and he even avoided Hermione. When he did try to get into Ginny's room her brothers would stop him. The only Gryffindors that bothered talking to him were Harry and Neville. Even then he could sense that Harry was mad at him, but Neville confused him. The guy actually tried to comfort him. He thought it would be the other way around. He thought that Neville would go to Ginny instead. He has noticed the glares Neville used to give him when he was with Ginny.

Draco turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around his waist and left the bathroom. When he got inside his room, he froze.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked.

Neville turned and smiled, "This is actually a nice room Draco. I need to talk to you."

Draco glared at him and walked to his dresser. He took out clothes and changed into them. He didn't care if Neville was watching. After he buttoned his shirt, he turned to Neville.

"Why didn't you wait until I got to the Great Hall?" Draco asked.

"I need to talk to you now."

"Then talk."

"You have to get back together with Ginny."

Draco stared at him. Neville stared back waiting for him to say something.

"Why would you care if it got back with Ginny? It doesn't concern you."

"You don't know anything. This concerns me as much as it does with you and Ginny. Don't let history repeat itself."

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked, utterly confused.

Neville took in a breath. "I can't tell you."

Draco advanced on him. "What do you mean you can't tell me. You mentioned it, tell me now. What do you know Neville?"

"I can't let history repeat itself. I can't, this is my chance to make it right. Draco talk to Ginny, plead with her, please do anything you can to win her back," Neville asked him. Draco thought that he sounded desperate.

"You still haven't answered my question. You can't just come in my room and tell me what to do."

Neville's hands were shaking.

"If you don't get back together with her you'll die!" Neville shouted.

Fore the second time that day, Neville surprised him and he didn't know what to say.

"What are you going on about?"

"I've said enough. I have to go." Neville turned to the door. Draco quickly got out his wand and a muttered a spell.

"I locked the door. It's the only way out unless you want to jump out the window. If you do I doubt that you'll survive the fall. I won't let you out until you tell me what you know," Draco told him.

"I can't tell you anything else," Neville said, clenching his jaw, "Let me out."

"No. Tell me or you'd have to fight me."

"Fine," Neville said. He jumped on Draco and punched him. Draco, who was caught by surprise couldn't prepare himself for the blow and took the full impact. His head hit the hard stone floor, he heard a crack and his nose and head exploded in pain. He never thought that Neville would actually fight him. He saw Neville raise his fist to hit him again. Draco was able to catch it and he pushed him back. He rammed Neville to the wall. Neville brought a knee to his stomach, he lost his breath and stumbled back. Neville bent down, took the wand out of his pocket and ran to the door.

"_Alohamora!"_ The door opened and he ran out. Draco got up and went after him.

*_*_*_*_*

"Hey guys," Ginny said cheerfully.

"Why are you so happy?" Ron asked, sitting next to Hermione who avoided looking at Ginny.

"Didn't you just break up with your boyfriend yesterday?" Ron asked.

Ginny sat down across from him. "How do you expect me to act? Should I be crying over him? I cried a lot yesterday, I'm not going to waste anymore tears on him."

"O-okay," Ron said, not knowing how to respond to that.

"Can you pass the bread?" Ginny asked him. Ron stared at her and gave her the bread.

'How could she act as if nothing happened?' Ron asked himself.

The door suddenly burst open and Neville ran inside. Everybody turned to look at him. They were surprised to see blood on his ragged clothes. The teachers all stood up, alarmed. Suddenly Draco ran inside. His clothes were disheveled and covered with blood. Ginny also stood up when she saw him. Everybody was wondering what happened to the two. He was running towards Neville whom stopped and was now pointing his wand at him.

"I'm sorry Draco, but you left me no choice," Neville told him. He threw that wand at him and Draco caught it. 

Draco glared at Neville. He saw Professor Snape walking towards him. He turned and ran out the Great Hall.

Ginny stared at Neville who stared back at her and gave her a look as if he was telling her to go after him. Ginny turned to the door and she ran out, following after Draco. She had no idea where Draco went, but when she saw blood on the floor she figured that it was Draco's. The trail of blood led her outside the castle. She looked ahead and could see a figure bending over the lake. She walked towards him.

Draco brought his hands to the water. He scooped some out and splattered it on his face. He could see blood drip down to the lake. He looked at his reflection and scowled. He saw another reflection and he turned around.

"Ginny."

"Hey Draco. Are you okay?" Ginny asked. She bent down to be face level with him.

"Shouldn't you be glad that I look like this? You actually sound concerned."

Ginny frowned. "Of course I'm concerned. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I thought that you hate me."

"I am mad, but I don't hate you. Let me see your face," Ginny asked. She touched his nose and he winced.

"I think it's broken," Ginny said. She took out her wand and pointed it towards his nose. She muttered a spell and the pain went away.

"Thank you," Draco told her. He was going to walk away but Ginny held him back.

"Does your head hurt?" Ginny asked, "It's bleeding."

Draco shook his head, "It's just a bump. I touched my nose and then my hair."

"What happened?"

"Neville and I just had a little argument. Who knew the guy could throw a punch?"

****

"If you don't get back together with her you'll die!" Neville shouted.

"Do I look sick?" Draco asked Ginny. He still couldn't believe what Neville told him.

"You look a little pale, probably because of the blood loss. Why? Do you feel sick?" Ginny asked.

"Well…no, but Neville said something to me."

"What were you and Neville talking about anyway?"

Draco looked up at her, "You. He was trying to convince me to try to get back together with you."

Ginny wondered if Neville did convinced Draco. If he did, should she accept him back.

"Did he convince you?" Ginny asked.

Draco looked into her eyes, "He told me to plead with you to take me back. He didn't really give me a good reason why to. He did catch my attention though."

Ginny wondered why he didn't answer her question yet. She was doubting that Draco would ever plead with her.

"Do you want to know what he said that caught my attention?" Draco asked. Ginny nodded.

"He said that I was going to die. Do you believe that? I still find that hard to believe. Me, die? I don't think that's going to happen until I'm over a hundred years old."

"Draco, are you serious?"

"About the dying thing? I don't believe him, why should I?"

"I don't want you to die," Ginny whispered.

"What did Neville say?"

"You don't believe him, do you?" Draco asked.

"It's better not to take chances."

Draco started laughing. Ginny looked at him and slapped him.

"Are you just joking with me?" Ginny yelled. She didn't know how worried she was about him.

"No, I was not joking. What was that slap for? Was it because I laughed? You looked so serious about it. Neville is lying okay. If I'm dying, I would know about it."

"Draco, do you love me?" Ginny asked out of the blue.

"I don't know."

"Draco! It's a yes or no question."

"Ginny, I seriously don't know, okay. Maybe I do, but I'm not too sure. Why did you ask me? I thought you heard what I said yesterday."

"I heard you, but Neville said…"

"Neville thinks he knows a lot of things," Draco interrupted her.

"Probably because he does. He knew more about you Draco than I did," Ginny told him, "He knew more and I was you're girlfriend."

Draco sat down on the grass. Why was everyone telling him things that confuses him? He had no idea what Ginny was talking about. Besides Hermione, Ginny is the only person he ever really talks to. How can Neville know more about him than her, he doesn't even see the guy until his classes with him. Even then they don't talk much. They're just friends, they don't fight nor do they get along as if they were brothers.

"What did he know that you didn't?" Draco asked Ginny.

"Why did you tell him about Darien and Gwenivere and not me?"

'Darien and Gwenivere?' Draco wondered. He tried to think of a time when he told Neville, but he couldn't think of any. He has never even mentioned them to Neville.

"I never told Neville about them and I don't know how he found out. Wait…maybe…it couldn't be."

"What?"

"All of us are getting dreams about Darien and Gwenivere. Maybe Neville is too, but if he is, who could he be?" Draco asked. He thought about this. There could be no other explanation. Maybe Hermione just told Neville, but she wouldn't do that.

"I have to go," Draco told Ginny.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I need to talk with Hermia."

"I'm coming with you."

*_*_*_*_*

"Tom, he's fighting back."

"Don't call me that," Voldemort hissed.

"What do you want me to call you? Surely you don't expect me to call you master. I don't see what's wrong with Tom. It's an old name used by many."

"It's a muggle name," Voldemort spat, "What is the boy doing now?"

"He's struggling, I can feel it. Who would have thought that a small thing like Longbottom could overpower the potion? What are you going to do now?"

"What I am going to do is none of your concern. Go back to your chambers."

"You cannot not order me around!"

"You forget that if it weren't for me you would be out in the streets like a beggar. You also forget the small part I play in your existence. Now leave!"

"If mother were alive, you wouldn't be like this!"

The person glared at him and left him alone. Voldemort glared after her. A snake slithered next to Voldemort's feet.

"Nagini, what am I going to do with the girl?" Voldemort asked the snake.

"Wormtail!" Voldemort yelled. Wormtail came in the room and bowed before Voldemort.

"You called for me master."

"Send another potion to the boy. If he refuses, force it down his throat."

"Y-yes master," Wormtail stuttered and left the room.

Voldemort sat down and faced Nagini.

"We have to hurry Nagini. We cannot let Hermia beat us."

Thank you's: I just want to thank everyone that reviewed. Kori at school, charismatic, Analy, Wizzabee, silver-star, Neni Potter, Evenstar, MagicalMoonPrincess, Sarah*xGinnyDracox, Aly. Thank you Francesca for betaing. All you guys are the best.

A/N: Sorry again for the delay. Don't forget to review.

Next Chapter: Darien's uncle comes to the manor. During a party, Darien realizes how he really feels about Gwenivere. Draco and Ginny meets someone from the past that may be able to help them.


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